Russia-Ukraine: NATO leader says 'we have not seen any withdrawal of Russian forces': LIVE UPDATES
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday cast doubt on claims by Russia that it's drawing down some of its 150,000 troops along the border with Ukraine, saying that "at the moment, we have not seen any withdrawal of Russian forces."
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The State Department on Wednesday hit back on Russian claims that it is reducing its troop size along the Ukrainian border and said the U.S. is concerned by the "great deal of propaganda and disinformation."
Earlier this week Russian officials claimed that it would be reducing its force size along Ukraine’s border after amassing roughly 150,000 troops and deploying 30,000 soldiers into neighboring Belarus.
But despite claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin echoed Tuesday, the U.S. and NATO have said they have seen no such efforts.
"We have seen the opposite," State Department press secretary Ned Price told reporters Wednesday. "In recent days more Russian forces — not fewer — are at the border, and they are moving … into fighting positions."
General Jack Keane, Fox News strategic analyst, said the release of classified information regarding a potential Russian-led invasion into Ukraine has potentially opened the door for a diplomatic path forward. Gen. Keane joined "The Faulkner Focus" to discuss the latest on the conflict, telling host Harris Faulkner the release of key information has "put Putin's information campaign" on the "defensive."
JACK KEANE: The United States information campaign, releasing classified information to gain dominance over Russia in terms of what they're doing and reveal their actions, has largely put Russia on the defensive.
The Independence Monument is seen over Kyiv's Maidan Square in front of a Ukrainian national flag that was displayed on the occasion of the Day of Unity, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday. (AP/Efrem Lukatsky)
Ukrainian officials investigating Tuesday’s cyberattacks that brought down websites belonging to its Ministry of Defense, army and popular banks are now calling the incident the "largest" of its kind in the history of the country – and suspect Russia is the culprit.
The distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks come as U.S. and NATO continue to cast doubt on Russian claims that some of its 150,000 troops amassed along its border with Ukraine are heading back to their permanent bases.
"Russia has engaged in cyberattacks and electronic warfare in terms of a precursor to physical and kinetic activity," Frank Cilluffo, the director of the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security at Auburn University, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday, citing past cyberattacks in Georgia and Ukraine’s Crimea region.
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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin attends a news conference in Beijing, China, in December 2020. (REUTERS/Thomas Peter)
China has accused the United States of "playing up" the crisis on Ukraine’s border after Moscow claimed to have pulled back some of its 150,000 troops amassed in the region.
"Such persistent hyping up and disinformation by some Western countries will create turbulence and uncertainty to the world full of challenges and intensify distress and division," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Wednesday.
"We hope relevant parties will stop such disinformation campaigns and do more to benefit peace, mutual trust and cooperation," he added.
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The U.S. Navy announced Wednesday that three of its P-8A spy planes “experienced unprofessional intercepts by Russian aircraft” last weekend while flying over the Mediterranean Sea.
“The U.S. flight crews were flying in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea at the time of these intercepts. We have made our concerns known to Russian officials through diplomatic channels,” U.S. Navy Capt. Mike Kafka said in a statement.
“While no one was hurt, interactions such as these could result in miscalculations and mistakes that lead to more dangerous outcomes,” he added.
The Russian military behavior comes as Moscow remains in a diplomatic standoff with the U.S. over the estimated 150,000 Russian troops that have amassed along its border with Ukraine.
Fox News' James Levinson contributed to this report.
Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst provides the latest from Kyiv, Ukraine.
The top American diplomat in Ukraine says there is 'no evidence' that any of the 150,000 Russian troops massing on the country's border are pulling back.
Kristina Kvien, the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, admitted to the U.S. embassy shredding sensitive documents and ripping out computer servers before evacuating the capital and relocating to the city of Lviv, six hours to the west.
Asked in an interview with Fox News in the middle of Lviv's central square if Putin is bluffing, Kvien replied, "I fear he's not."
She also called Russia a "bully."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during an interview on ABC's 'Good Morning America' Wednesday, said Russian President Vladimir Putin could attack Ukraine at any moment.
"We continue to see forces, especially forces that would be in the vanguard of any renewed aggression against Ukraine continuing to to be at the border to mass at the border," Blinken said.
"We said that we were in a window of time in which the invasion could come at any time. President Putin's put in place the capacity to act on very short notice. He can pull the trigger. He could pull it today. He could pull it tomorrow. He could pull it next week," Blinken continued. "The forces are there if he wants to renew aggression against Ukraine."
Blinken also said the U.S. has not yet seen a pullback of Russian troops, which Moscow has said is starting to happen.
"We haven't seen a pullback. We'd like to see one," he told ABC's 'Good Morning America'. "If we see one, we would welcome it. [We're] prepared for diplomacy. We're prepared for aggression, we're prepared either way."
U.S. stocks fell in early trading Wednesday as NATO reported that Russia was not easing its military presence around Ukraine. The ongoing conflict outweighed a strong report on retail sales.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 100 points or 0.3%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.4% and 0.9%, respectively.
Oil remained at $93 per barrel giving a lift to ExxonMobil and Chevron.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that "if Britain puts new sanctions on us, our Parliament will want to—in fact will be obliged to—put analogous sanctions on those who make their career, ratings, popularity on the basis of Russophobia."
The comment came after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday warned that Russia would face a "very, very tough" package of sanctions if Moscow invades Ukraine.
"What we're doing is targeting particular Russian banks, Russian companies, and making sure that we take steps, take even more steps, to unseal the facade of Russian property holdings... whether in London or elsewhere," Johnson said, according to Sky News.
"Unpeel the facade of Russian ownership of companies," he reportedly added. "And also take steps to take Russian companies from raising capital on London financial markets."
(AP/Efrem Lukatsky)
A 200-meter long Ukrainian flag is unfolded at the Olympiyskiy stadium in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday. As Western officials warned a Russian invasion could happen as early as today, the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy called for a Day of Unity, with Ukrainians encouraged to raise Ukrainian flags across the country.
In this photo taken from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Russian army tanks stand ready to move back to their permanent base after drills in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday contradicted Moscow's claims that it was pulling troops back from the Ukrainian border and said he has seen no proof of any withdrawal efforts.
"We have not seen any withdrawal of Russian forces. That contradicts the message of real diplomatic efforts," Stoltenberg told reporters. "They have increased the number of troops and more troops are on their way. So far, there is no de-escalation."
The secretary-general’s comments come after Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed reporting Tuesday that Moscow would begin "the partial withdrawal of troops" from "training" areas near Ukraine.
The U.S. and NATO have said they are cautiously optimistic following the Kremlin’s statements, but Stoltenberg warned Wednesday that Russia is still capable of launching a "full-fledged invasion of Ukraine with no warning time."
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President Biden on Tuesday insisted that Moscow’s concern that NATO’s expansion is a security threat is unfounded and addressed the citizens in Russia, saying, “You are not our enemy, and I don’t believe you want a bloody, destructive war against Ukraine.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that he welcomed a security dialogue with the West, and his military reported pulling back some of its troops near Ukraine. But U.S. President Joe Biden said the U.S. had not verified Russia’s claim and that an invasion was still a distinct possibility.
“Two paths are still open,” Biden said. “But let there be no doubt: If Russia commits this breach by invading Ukraine, responsible nations around the world will not hesitate to respond. If we do not stand for freedom where it is at risk today, we’ll surely pay a steeper price tomorrow.” -With AP
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