NATO: Russia Still Adding Troops Near Ukraine

Russia says it's returning more troops to their bases

A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea, on Jan. 18, 2022. AP Photo

A day after Russia said it pulled some of its forces away from the Ukrainian border, NATO officials said Moscow is still adding troops to its buildup around the Eastern European nation.

“We have not seen any withdrawal of Russian forces. And of course, that contradicts the message of diplomatic efforts,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters. “What we see is that they have increased the number of troops, and more troops are on their way. So, so far, no deescalation.”

While a feared Feb. 16 Russian invasion of Ukraine hasn’t materialized, the United States and its allies maintain that the threat remains strong, with Europe’s security and economic stability in the balance.

Russia’s defense ministry said on Feb. 16 that some of its forces would be heading back to their bases.

“Combat equipment and military personnel will be delivered by military trains to the units’ permanent deployment points,” Russia’s defense ministry said, according to Reuters. “Upon arrival, the equipment will be serviced and prepared for carrying out the next phase of combat training.”

Russian Defense Ministry video showed a trainload of armored vehicles moving across a bridge away from Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. It also announced that more tank units of the Western Military District were being loaded on trains to return to their permanent bases after training exercises.

But UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News on Feb. 16 that his office has seen no evidence of a withdrawal.

“In fact, we’ve seen a continued buildup of things like field hospitals and strategic weapons systems,” he said.

President Joe Biden warned in a Feb. 15 speech that more than 150,000 Russian soldiers were still massed along Ukraine’s borders. While he said the United States is open to diplomacy with Moscow, Biden issued a warning.

Ukrainian Military Forces servicemen attend a military drill with next generation Light Anti-tank Weapon (NLAW) Swedish-British anti-aircraft missile launchers at the firing ground of the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Jan. 28, 2022. AFP via Getty Images

“If Russia does invade in the days and weeks ahead, the human costs for Ukraine will be immense, and the strategic cost for Russia will also be immense,” Biden said. “If Russia attacks Ukraine, to be met with overwhelming international condemnation.”

It came as Russian President Vladimir Putin met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Feb. 15, when Putin claimed that Ukrainian forces are committing “genocide” in the eastern Donbas region located near the Russian border.

“I can only add that what is happening in Donbas is genocide,” Putin said, according to remarks carried by Russian state-funded media. “We have to do everything to resolve the problem of Donbas, but do it first and foremost based on the possibility of implementing the Minsk agreements.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Feb. 16 that claims made by Western media were attempts at triggering a war in Eastern Europe.

“To the regret of many Western mass media, once again, the war failed to begin. They had gone to great lengths trying to make it a reality. Possibly, their pages were scenes of ferocious battles, but all this has nothing to do with the reality,” Zakharova said, according to Russia’s TASS news agency. “In the previous days, no war happened, but they don’t get upset and keep waiting for it with a tenacity worthy of a better occasion.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.