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The Pentagon was convinced on Wednesday that Russia "is ready" to invade Ukraine, in light of the moves it has taken in recent days.
Defense Department spokesman John Kirby told a news conference that Moscow has sent
additional troops to the Donetsk area of
eastern Ukraine and that these troops have not advanced beyond this area.
"We can't be very specific about the number or what kind of formations they have there or their capabilities, but
we really do believe that's happening
," Kirby said.
He added that the US suspects that Russia will carry out some kind of action soon: "What we see is that the Russian forces
have continued to concentrate
closer to the border and are in an advanced phase of preparation to act or carry out an action in Ukraine," he stressed.
Kirby indicated that at this time the Pentagon believes that the Russian armed forces
"are ready"
to carry out an attack on Ukrainian territory at any time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized on the 21st the independence of the self-proclaimed separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, in eastern Ukraine, and has authorized the sending of troops to Donbas.
American deployment
Given these steps, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday the deployment of
800
more US soldiers in the Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - to reinforce NATO's eastern flank.
The 800 troops are part of an infantry battalion that is currently in Italy, and that will be deployed in the Baltic region.
In addition, the US will transfer twenty
AH-64 combat helicopters
from Germany to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
In parallel, the Pentagon will send eight F-35 fighter-bombers
to "several locations" on NATO's eastern flank
, which are in Germany;
and has given the green light for the transfer of twelve AH-64 helicopters from Greece to Poland.
These troop and equipment movements are "temporary" and are in addition to the more than 90,000 US soldiers deployed in Europe under rotating and permanent mandates.
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