NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated on Wednesday that satellite images confirm that Russia has not withdrawn its forces from the Ukrainian border. He explained to reporters on the sidelines of a two-day NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels that "our intelligence information has already been confirmed by open sources, including images taken by commercial satellites."
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States has not seen any indication of Russian troop withdrawal from their positions near the Ukrainian border, and that Moscow is moving significant units closer to the area. Blinken mentioned on MSNBC: "There is a difference between what Russia says and what it does. We have not seen any withdrawal of its troops. We still see significant units moving towards the border and not away from it." He added, "What we need to see is exactly the opposite. We want to see these forces moving away."
U.S. President Joe Biden had urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to reconsider launching a war on Ukraine, clearly speaking of "needless death and destruction" that Moscow could cause, along with the international outrage that Putin would face.
During the NATO defense ministers' meeting on Wednesday, member countries discussed new ways to strengthen the defenses of nations on the eastern flank of the alliance, as the Russian military buildup around Ukraine fuels one of the largest security crises in Europe in decades.
Over the two days at NATO's headquarters in Brussels, defense ministers were scheduled to discuss how and when to rapidly send troops and equipment to countries closer to Russia and the Black Sea if Moscow orders an invasion of Ukraine. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his counterparts are also planning to evaluate the potential for deploying troops long-term in Southeastern Europe, which could begin later this year.
The number of troops could resemble the presence of around 5,000 soldiers stationed in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland on a rotating basis in recent years. Stoltenberg stated, "The fact that we have deployed more NATO forces on the ground, more naval assets, and more aircraft all sends a very clear message... I think there is no room for any miscalculation in Moscow regarding our commitment to defend our allies."
However, Ukraine is not a NATO member, and the alliance, as an organization, is not prepared to defend it. Russia does not pose a direct security threat to any NATO country, but the alliance is concerned about the repercussions of any conflict in Ukraine, such as a wave of refugees fleeing across European borders or potential cyberattacks or disinformation campaigns.
