Russia-Ukraine: Photos show Ukrainian troops preparing for conflict: LIVE UPDATES
Russia has amassed more than 125,000 troops near Ukraine’s northern and eastern borders, raising concern that Moscow might invade.
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(AP/Mykola Tymchenko)
Ukrainian National Guard soldiers take part in tactical exercises Friday, simulating a crisis situation in an urban settlement.
(AP/Mykola Tymchenko)
Ukrainian National Guard soldiers take part in tactical exercises in the abandoned city of Pripyat near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on Friday.
The Biden administration has ordered 3,000 more troops to be placed in countries neighboring Ukraine, but experts warn it is unlikely to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin from launching an invasion.
Fred Kagan, a former military history professor for the Military Academy at West Point, told Fox News Digital on Thursday, "The deployment of U.S. ground combat forces to Eastern Europe is extremely important."
But he argued that if Putin has made up his mind to invade the former Soviet nation, the troop size of NATO forces will not "deter" him.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose during their meeting in Beijing, on February 4, 2022. (Photo by ALEXEI DRUZHININ/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Beijing in a show of unity prior to the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in the country.
The meeting comes at a time where the two countries move closer to each other in the face of what they see as Western aggression.
Putin has over 100,000 troops deployed to the border with Ukraine and Beijing has been increasing the amount off sorties to Taiwanese airspace.
Putin praised Moscow’s relationship with Beijing as “dignified.” -Edmund DeMarche
The Russian Embassy in the U.S. took to social media late Thursday to mock Washington for engaging "in conspiracy theories” after the Pentagon warned of a possible false flag attack along eastern Ukraine’s border to justify a conflict.
“We call on Washington to abandon propaganda and go in for serious work to strengthen European security,” the embassy said. The embassy went on to say that it is “not surprised by the new ‘creative’ scenario outlined by @StateDeptSpox & PentagonPresSec” and called it a typical move by the U.S.
The statement pointed to 2003, when Colin Powell, who was secretary of state at the time, made an appearance at the United Nations and held up a white vial that represented Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said earlier in the day that U.S. officials believe Russia is planning to "stage a fake attack by Ukrainian military or intelligence forces against Russian sovereign territory or against Russian-speaking people to therefore justify their action as part of this fake attack."
The allegation led to a tense exchange between an Associated Press reporter and Ned Price, the State Department spokesman.
"You have shown no evidence to confirm that … What is the evidence? I mean, this is like ‘crisis actors,’ really? This is like Alex Jones territory you're getting into. What evidence do you have to support the idea that there is some propaganda film in the making?" Lee continued.
Price then said that the information came from U.S. intelligence and was declassified.
"OK, well, … where is it? Where is this information?" Lee said. --Edmund DeMarche
The United States has intelligence that Russia is likely to "fabricate" a pretext for an invasion of Ukraine, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday.
The Washington Post on Thursday morning first reported that Russia has developed a plan to create a pretext for a Ukraine invasion by falsely pinning an attack on Ukrainian forces.
"We do have information that the Russians are likely to want to fabricate a pretext for an invasion, which, again, is right out of their playbook," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said when asked whether the report was accurate.-- Brooke Singman
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