The US has said it has evidence that Russia has made plans for a “large scale” attack on Ukraine and said NATO allies are “prepared to impose severe costs” on Moscow if it attempts an invasion.
Speaking at a NATO ministers meeting in Latvia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that it was unclear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had made a decision to invade, but added: “He’s putting in place the capacity to do so in short order, should he so decide.”
“So despite uncertainty about intention and timing, we must prepare for all contingencies while working to see to it that Russia reverses course,” Blinken added.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Having found solidarity among his fellow NATO ministers in the Latvian capital, Riga, Blinken said that the alliance is “prepared to impose severe costs for further Russian aggression in Ukraine” and would “reinforce its defenses on the eastern flank.”
However, Blinken stopped well short of saying that the US or the alliance would intervene militarily.
“Should Russia follow the path of confrontation, when it comes to Ukraine, we’ve made clear that we will respond resolutely, including with a range of high impact economic measures that we have refrained from pursuing in the past,” he said.
Photo: Reuters
Blinken did not specify the nature of those measures, but most observers believe that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, intended to bring Russian gas to Europe, could be canceled if there is another invasion.
The new German coalition government is already skeptical about the scheme.
Blinken said the US would spell out the consequences to Russia’s leaders “at the appropriate time.”
His remarks represent the strongest warning from US President Joe Biden’s administration so far, and were delivered the day before Blinken is due to meet Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov in Stockholm.
Blinken pointed to “evidence that Russia has made plans for significant aggressive moves against Ukraine,” adding that those moves included “efforts to destabilize Ukraine from within, as well as large-scale military operations.”
The Ukrainian government estimates that the number of troops near its borders ranges between 90,000 and 100,000.
Russian forces staged two major military exercises in the region, in April and September, and each time left a significant number of troops and substantial supplies of equipment.
Commercial satellites have shown concentrations of military vehicles.
The Kremlin has said that Putin is shortly to hold a summit with Biden.
The White House has signaled that it is open to the idea, but no date has been agreed on.
On Wednesday, Putin proposed holding negotiations to ensure that NATO would not accept new members along Russia’s borders.
“In dialogue with the United States and its allies, we will insist on developing concrete agreements that exclude any further NATO advances to the east and the deployment of weapons systems threatening us in close proximity to Russian territory,” he said during a ceremony at the Kremlin.
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