THE Kremlin said Thursday it will take time to withdraw Russian forces that have completed drills near the Ukraine border, while the United States and other Ukrainian allies say there are no concrete signs of a pullback of the Russian military elements that have sparked fears of a new invasion of Ukraine.
A senior U.S. official told reporters late Wednesday that despite Russia saying it was starting to send some units back to their bases, it had actually added as many as 7,000 more troops along the Ukraine border.
“The Russians have also said in recent days that they are prepared to engage in diplomacy as we and our allies have repeatedly offered,” the official said. “But every indication we have now is they mean only to publicly offer to talk and make claims about de-escalation while privately mobilizing for war.”
Russia has denied it plans to invade Ukraine, and
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