US Soldiers in Poland Begin Drills Near Ukrainian Border, Polish Defense Minister Says

WARSAW (Sputnik) - The US soldiers who recently arrived in Poland began military drills close to the border with Ukraine on Sunday, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said.

"Over the weekend, soldiers of the18th Mechanized Division [of the Polish Army] began joint exercises in southeastern Poland with American soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division [of the US Army]," Blaszczak tweeted.

Earlier, Washington has dispatched additional forces to neighboring Poland and Romania, accusing Moscow of amassing over 140,000 troops at Ukrainian border and orchestrating provocations in the breakaway Donbas as a pretext for an "incursion." For several weeks, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Poland and the Baltics have been supplying arms to Ukraine, aiming to deter an alleged Russian assault, including combat weapons and ammunition.

Russia has repeatedly denied having any intention to invade Ukraine, stressing that it is NATO buildup near its borders that undermines stability in Eastern Europe.

Instead of a “Russian invasion” of Ukraine, recent days have witnessed a dramatic escalation of the crisis in the Donbass, with officials from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics reporting intense shelling by Ukrainian artillery and mortar fire, mobilizing reserves and announcing an evacuation of civilians from their respective territories. Local authorities believe that the recent escalation is a sign of preparations by Kiev to launch a military offensive into the Donbass region.

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Ukraine to sit down to the negotiating table with Donbass leaders as soon as possible to implement the Minsk Agreements.