Russia May Launch Aggression Against Ukraine This Week: Anthony Blinken

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced concerns that, in his opinion, Russia could launch aggression against Ukraine as early as this week, despite Moscow's announcement of withdrawing some of its forces from the Ukrainian border, reports Voice of America.

“We are deeply concerned that Russia could take action against Ukraine as early as this week,” Blinken said in an interview with French television. “What we’re seeing is the deployment of Russian troops around Ukraine, on all sides of Ukraine, leads us to that conclusion,” he continued.

“Rather than de-escalating, Russia is escalating it by adding more and more troops. This deeply concerns us.”

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Tuesday that some units from Russian military districts bordering Ukraine are returning to permanent deployment sites after exercises. Russian news agency Interfax, citing the military department, reported that while large-scale exercises are ongoing across the country, some units of the Southern and Western military districts have completed their tasks and have begun returning to their bases.

Russia has concentrated over 100,000 troops at the Ukrainian borders, raising concerns about potential invasion, especially considering that joint exercises with Belarus planned for February 10-20 indicate that Ukraine is almost entirely surrounded by Russian military forces.

Blinken noted that the diplomatic path is still open. “We are doing everything we can to convince Russia to take the diplomatic route, a path of dialogue, so that any existing disagreements can be resolved peacefully, but if Russia decides to act aggressively, we are fully prepared for that and will coordinate closely with our European allies and partners,” he said.

When asked whether Russia might attack Ukraine on Wednesday, as some media outlets have predicted, Blinken replied, “Unfortunately, that is entirely possible, because Putin has gathered everything necessary to conduct aggression against Ukraine. We see an increasing number of Russian troops surrounding Ukraine, more than 100,000 servicemen. This is extremely alarming, including what is happening in Belarus regarding troop deployments.”

According to Blinken, Russia has no reasons to conduct itself this way. “The only explanation we have is that this is another act of aggression,” he said. “Additionally, we must consider this in historical context. This has happened before, in 2014, with the annexation of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine. Knowing this history, we are extremely concerned when we see what is happening near Ukraine's borders.”