US Ambassador to the OSCE: Russia has concentrated up to 190,000 troops on the border with Ukraine
Photo: Sergey Pivovarov / Reuters
Russia is conducting the largest mobilization in Europe since World War II. This was stated by US Permanent Representative to the OSCE Michael Carpenter, RIA Novosti reports.
According to the permanent representative, Russia has concentrated from 169,000 to 190,000 troops in Ukraine and its borders. Carpenter also pointed out that more than 30 ships are currently on exercises in the Black Sea, and said that amphibious ships from the Northern and Baltic fleets were sent there to reinforce.
Earlier, the United States did not believe in the withdrawal of Russian troops from the border with Ukraine and set a new date for the invasion on February 20. The American publication Politico, citing analysts, expressed confidence that the previously announced date of February 16 “diverted attention” from more important time frames.
The newspaper noticed that it was at this time that the Beijing Olympics and the Munich Security Conference ended. “Starting an invasion at a time when American dignitaries are in Europe, and the head of Ukraine [Vladimir Zelensky] is outside the country, can be an absolute humiliation – a kind of geopolitical trolling,” they say in the West.
