U.S. and NATO officials are taking a “wait and see” approach to Russian claims that they may be winding down some military activity near Ukraine that has sparked concerns of an imminent invasion.
Ahead of meetings Wednesday in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the situation is “the most serious security crisis we have faced in Europe for decades.”
“So far we have not seen any sign of de-escalation on the ground,” Mr. Stoltenberg said Tuesday. “Russia has amassed a fighting force in and around Ukraine, unprecedented since the Cold War. Everything is now in place for a new attack.”
Russian Defense Ministry officials are pushing back, saying their units are returning to home bases as the exercises conclude.
“The units of the Southern and Western military districts, having completed their tasks, have already begun loading onto rail and road transport and will begin moving to their military garrisons today,” Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a Russian military spokesman, said in a statement released Tuesday. “Separate units will march on their own as part of military columns.”
On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said officials have been monitoring the situation for several weeks. So far, the evidence on the ground does not match the Russian claims, she said.
“All we have seen, unfortunately, is escalation,” Ambassador Smith told reporters during a press conference.
In December, Russians made similar claims that they would soon begin withdrawing some forces from the border area with Ukraine.
“When we went in to verify, we actually found no signs of that,” Ambassador Smith said. “Since then, we’ve only seen Russian forces moving in the opposite direction.”