Western reports had earlier said that Russia would invade Ukraine in late January or early February, but nothing happened.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said she would refrain from using the word “imminent” when referring to a possible Russian invasion.
Moscow denies its intention to invade Ukraine, and says that mobilizing forces and conducting maneuvers do not threaten anyone, and blames the West, which wants to provoke it.
In the face of these developments, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is testing the West’s enthusiasm by mobilizing forces on Ukraine’s borders.
And Truss added in an article published in the British newspaper “The Telegraph” that the mobilization of forces on the borders and the consequent crisis will continue for months.
“We should have no illusions,” she wrote. “Russia can go on with this longer in a brazen ploy for weeks, perhaps months, to sabotage the unity of Ukraine and challenge the unity of the West.”
She said that NATO must maintain a strong readiness because Russia respects only force, warning against the decline of NATO’s momentum.
London sees prolonging the Ukrainian crisis as a tactic used by Putin in an attempt to undermine Western unity against him.
And the British Foreign Secretary considered it necessary not to rely on a false sense of security, after Moscow talked about withdrawing part of its forces from the borders of Ukraine.