Putin has yet to make final decision on invading Ukraine: Pentagon

WASHINGTON

The US said Monday that Russia has "added military capability" along its border with Ukraine but did not believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a final decision to invade the former Soviet republic.

Speaking at a press conference, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Putin has increased Russia’s military presence near Ukraine and in Belarus in the past 24 hours.

"He is exercising some of his units on the ground there, in the south as well as naval units in the Black Sea. So he continues to add to his readiness, he continues to give himself more options," said Kirby.

He refrained from getting into specific movements of Russian troops, however, and added that the Pentagon does not believe "some final decision has been made" by the Russian president.

Some Western media reports claimed that Russia could launch an attack on Ukraine on Wednesday.


Moscow recently amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, prompting fears that the Kremlin could be planning another military offensive against its former Soviet neighbor.


Russia has denied that it is preparing to invade and accused Western countries of undermining its security through NATO’s expansion towards its borders.


The Kremlin also issued a list of security demands to the West, including a rollback of troop deployments from some ex-Soviet states and guarantees that Ukraine and Georgia would not join NATO.