Washington has said that it is ready for dialogue with Moscow if it so chooses, and is also ready for a military escalation in the event that Russian President Vladimir Putin resorts not to defuse the tension and incursion into Ukraine.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby acknowledged that Defense Department leaders are reviewing possible military, security and defense options to deal with any Russian escalation.
He said that the cyber-attacks carried out by Moscow against information networks belonging to the Kiev government, warn that action is being prepared against the sovereignty of Ukraine to create an atmosphere that justifies the possibilities of incursion and invasion.
Kirby added that the United States does not want to see a Russian incursion into Ukraine, and if that happens, the US Department of Defense will provide the necessary security and military support to Kiev.
Kirby added, in a press conference at the Pentagon, that the ministry has information that Moscow is working to create or cause an accident on the borders of Ukraine, as a pretext to invade it.
Kirby said it is hard to believe that Russian agents on the border with Ukraine, who are planning provocative events, are not acting under the direct direction of Vladimir Putin.
Kirby warned against compromising the safety of military trainers and advisers in Ukraine, stressing that this would have serious consequences if they were intentionally or unintentionally targeted.
Kirby concluded that the Pentagon is fully aware that it is in the American interest to disclose publicly and officially what Moscow plans against Ukraine soon, and we will not hide – and we will talk to him – “our intelligence assessment in this regard.”
700 US military advisors
On the other hand, an American government official in Washington revealed to “Sky News Arabia”, that the White House instructed the Pentagon leaders to raise the number of American military advisers and trainers present in Ukraine from about 400 officers to 700, within the next few days, and the Minister of Defense agreed. Defense Lloyd Austin, and US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley on this action.
While the Pentagon refused to announce this officially, given the sensitivity of the issue, the official admitted, in an unscreened interview with “Sky News Arabia” – requesting anonymity – that there are about 400 US military officers, trainers and advisers with the Ukrainian army forces on the ground inside Ukraine now. They provide support, advice and training in the framework of NATO coordination with Kiev.
The official added that 200 of these elements are American special units, and their task is to coordinate the operations of what he called “the sharing of information by military intelligence services about the movement of Russian forces” on three axes, from the east on the borders of the Donbas region, from the southeast to the Crimea, and also to the north on the border with the Donbass region. Bordering Belarus.
The official reiterated that Moscow is increasing the pace of its preparations until now for the maneuver, but it has not yet taken any final decision to incur an incursion into Ukraine.
He added that the Russian army, which in recent years has conducted military air tests in Syria, may be surprised by the capabilities of the Ukrainian army on the ground, and the harm and damage it could inflict on Russian forces and separatist groups if they began to invade.
He expected the Kremlin to face a fierce resistance movement from the Ukrainians, similar to what the Soviet forces experienced in the eighties of the last century in Afghanistan.
.