Blinken: US Shares 'Real Concerns' With EU Over 'Russian Activities at Ukrainian Border'

A week ago, another unconfirmed media report made similar claims about the US warning its European allies of possible military action by Russia in Ukraine. The Kremlin rejected the claims, while the Pentagon said it had seen signs of an imminent threat of a Russian invasion.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stated that Washington has real concerns over Russian activities at the Ukrainian border amid reports of a military build-up. He added that the White House shared its concerns that Moscow might be preparing an attack on its neighbour with the US’ European partners.

"We have real concerns about Russia's unusual military activity on the border with Ukraine. We have real concerns about some of the rhetoric we have been seeing and hearing from Russia as well as in social media".

Antony Blinken

US Secretary of State

Earlier, The New York Times reported, citing anonymous sources, that US intelligence officials have warned America's European allies about the possible threat of Russian military action in Ukraine's east, proposing to work out a potential joint response in advance. According to the sources, US officials believe that Moscow has still not made up its mind about plans for Ukraine. However, Washington continues to treat the reported Russian military build-up near Ukraine's borders seriously, the NYT claimed.

US and British officials have reportedly grown increasingly convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to use troops to either seize control of Ukraine's east or to destabilise Russia's neighbour, with which the Kremlin said it had no quarrel. According to the newspaper, US intelligence justifies the assessment by claiming Putin is growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress in the peace process in Ukraine's east.

Joint Action With Europe

The NYT's sources claimed that in light of these concerns, the US wanted to discuss possible joint action against Russia with its European partners, because unilateral steps wouldn't have an effect on the Kremlin. The proposed steps included "economic and military measures" in order to deter Moscow, the newspaper claimed.

US Director of National Intelligence Avril D. Haines travelled to Europe this week in order to brief NATO partners on Washington's intelligence regarding the situation at the Ukrainian border and the alleged possibility of Russian military action, the NYT said. It added that US officials sought to create a "common prescription" of punitive actions that the alliance's members would take, should Moscow resort to using its military against Ukraine.

Pentagon Seemingly Dispels 'Russia Invasion' Scares

The Kremlin has been rejecting allegations about the possibility of taking military action on the territory of Ukraine since the first such claims started to emerge in the media in light of reports of a military build-up at the border. Moscow slammed these reports as being part of a fake news campaign against Russia. The last time the Western mainstream media reported such a military build-up was in April 2021, alleging it was a possible sign of imminent military operation. However, it turned out to be nothing more than ordinary war games being carried out by Russian troops.

Soon after the emergence of similar reports in November, Bloomberg claimed, citing anonymous sources, that the US had warned its European allies about a possible upcoming Russian military operation in Ukraine's east. An internal conflict has been ongoing there between Kiev's forces and the self-proclaimed people's republics since 2014, largely due to the Ukrainian authorities' systematic failure to live up to their obligations under the Minsk accords that were signed back in 2015.

Soon after Bloomberg released its report, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley seemingly refuted it by stating that despite being concerned with the reported Russian military build-up, the Pentagon saw no signs that Moscow was planning to invade Ukraine in the coming days. Milley pointed out that in the past, such concerns had ended up being unfounded, apparently referring to similar reports in April 2021.