Bloomberg: The US warned the EU without evidence of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine to Ukraine, without giving any evidence. Bloomberg writes about this with reference to sources.
According to the newspaper, American officials expressed fears that Moscow may consider the possibility of a “military operation.” At the same time, no data on the basis of which such conclusions were made were not transferred to the European Union.
Agency sources said the United States' estimate was based on “publicly available evidence.” Washington plans to transmit information on this topic before a decision on a collective response is made.
Russia's response
A source close to the Kremlin said that Russia does not intend to start a war with Ukraine, but wants to show that in the event of necessity is ready to use force. Another unnamed source confirmed that a Russian offensive is “unlikely”, but Moscow allegedly has a plan to respond to Kiev's provocations.
Statements about Moscow's allegedly planned military invasion of Ukraine were also denied by the First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Dmitry Polyansky.
I never planned and never will, unless we are provoked by Ukraine or someone else, and it will not the issue of protecting our national sovereignty
Dmitry PolyanskyFirst Deputy Chairman of Russia at the UN Security Council
At the same time, Polyansky drew attention to the fact that a large number of threats come from Ukraine. In addition, he pointed out, one should not forget about the US warships operating provocatively in the waters of the Black Sea. “So every day it is very difficult to avoid a direct clash in the Black Sea,” the diplomat said. He also stressed that Russia has the right to concentrate troops anywhere on its territory.
What do they think in Ukraine?
The possibility of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the near future was previously assessed by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country Pavel Klimkin. According to him, Russia in the spring pulled up to the borders of Ukraine “a colossal amount of weapons,” however, he believes, there is no need to panic and worry about this.
According to the head of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Yuriy Vitrenko, the chances of a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine increase the launch of Nord Stream 2 and the reduction in the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe. He said that with the start of the gas pipeline operation, Moscow “will get rid of the deterrent factor,” and Ukraine may become more vulnerable to “Russian invasion.” US William Burns to reportedly hold a series of meetings with Russian officials to discuss US-Russian relations.
On the very first day of his trip, Burns met with the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev. The press service of the Security Council staff reported that politicians discussed issues related to relations between Moscow and Washington, without giving other details of the negotiations.
Later, CNN, citing sources, said that US President Joe Biden had sent Burns to Moscow to warn the Kremlin that Washington is closely monitoring the increase in the number of troops near the border with Ukraine. Also, the CIA director had to try to determine what motivates Russia's actions.
What is happening on the border with Ukraine?
On October 30, The Washington Post wrote about an alleged increase in the presence of Russian troops near Ukraine. According to the newspaper, “unusual movements of equipment and military” in the west of Russia were recorded after the completion of the large-scale exercises “West-2021”.
After that, the spokesman for the US Department of Defense John Kirby said that the Pentagon is monitoring the situation on the border of Ukraine and Russia. However, he refused to explain what kind of “unusual” behavior in question. In response to this, the Russian Embassy in Washington expressed bewilderment that “the press services of the State Department and the Pentagon are concerned about the movement of the RF Armed Forces on their own territory, within the Russian borders.”
Later, Politico reported that Russia allegedly sent tanks to the borders of Ukraine. As evidence, the journalists cited satellite photographs that were taken in the area of the city of Yelnya, Smolensk region. In turn, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that these messages are untrue and are stuffing.