Ukraine calls on the military alliance NATO to speed up the process for Ukraine as a member of the alliance.

The statement was made after reports over the Russian weekend of Russian reinforcements near Ukraine's borders and in the Crimean peninsula illegally annexed by Russia.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russia will retain military troops near Ukraine's borders, as long as the Kremlin deems it necessary.

"Surprise lost"

The situation is serious, Johan Norberg assesses.

But since the outside world reacted to Russian troop movements, a possible surprise moment is lost - if Russia has hostile intentions, he assesses.

- If Russia really intends to use military means, it probably wants to use as few resources as possible, but still achieve its goals.

Then the

moment of

surprise is central

,

which Russia has now partly lost in Ukraine.

For the outside world, it is thus important to also keep a watchful eye on other potential areas of conflict where Russia has interests, says Norberg.

Research leader Johan Norberg at the Swedish Defense Research Agency, FOI, monitors Russia's military development.

Photo: Henrik Montgomery, TT

Contingency checks throughout Russia

Norberg emphasizes that it is not surprising that Russia is moving troops into its own country and that it can be perceived as hostile.

The Russian armed forces are still largely manned by conscripts serving for one year.

- Since military training activities generally aim to be able to carry out war, it is not surprising that exercises and training checks look like war preparations.

But just because it is a training control period, it can not be ruled out that preparations for an impending operation are taking place at the same time.

March and April are a period when the checks on the status of the units are carried out after the winter training.

It causes emergency checks and unit transfers, according to FOI.

On Tuesday, Russia's Defense Minister stated that combat readiness checks will be carried out simultaneously in all Russian military districts.

All types of weapons are included, according to the statement in the state-controlled RIA.

- I can not speculate about the driving forces and intentions of the Russian political leadership.

The political tone may possibly be an indication.

Overall, the situation is serious, as I see it, says Johan Norberg.