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The United States now believes a Russian invasion of Ukraine “could happen at any time,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday, in what would be the biggest military operation in Europe since World War II.
“We believe that the Russians have put in place the capabilities to mount a significant military operation into Ukraine, and we have been working hard to prepare a response,” Sullivan told NBC’s “Meet the Press” show.
The US and its allies will deliver a “swift, severe and united response” if Russia invades Ukraine, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, warned on Sunday amid rising tensions.
The top US diplomat’s comments came as Russia continued its military build-up on the Ukraine border and Britain said it had exposed evidence of a plot by Vladimir Putin to install a pro-Moscow government in Kyiv.
U.S. intelligence is warning of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine involving as many as 175,000 troops as soon as January, a U.S. official confirmed to CBS News following a Friday report in The Washington Post about the scale of a possible offensive.
The plans involve extensive movement of 100 battalion tactical groups with an estimated 175,000 personnel, along with armor, artillery and equipment, according to an administration official.
Azerbaijan has said seven of its soldiers were killed and 10 others wounded in the November 16 fighting, for which the sides blamed each other.
In a statement on November 19, the Armenian Defense Ministry gave the names of five servicemen who died in the clashes, including one officer. It said the identity of another dead soldier had yet to be established.
Turkish security forces killed 11 members of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria, the country’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
Turkish commandos killed the YPG fighters after they “attempted to infiltrate and attack, aiming to disrupt the security and peace environment” in Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring zone, the ministry tweeted.