More troops at border not fewer

[David Morris]

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-russia-united-states-vladimir-putin-534fb1c355ff5f135ba0261cb1448c3c
US official: Russia adds 7K more troops near Ukraine border

A senior U.S. administration official said the West detected that Russia
had increased its force near Ukraine by 7,000 troops, with some arriving as
recently as Wednesday, and that there had been a marked increase in false
claims by Russians that the Kremlin might use as pretext for an invasion.

The official said those claims included reports of unmarked graves of
civilians allegedly killed by Ukrainian forces, statements that the U.S.
and Ukraine are developing biological or chemical weapons, and claims that
the West is funneling in guerrillas to kill Ukrainians.

The official was not authorized to speak publicly about sensitive
operations and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The
official did not provide underlying evidence for the assertions.

The U.S. and Europe are maintaining threats of harsh sanctions.
<https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-technology-business-global-trade-siemens-ag-9e1ad0ce3794a4ef5c8cd9399a1d3b7c>Trust
between East and West remains elusive.

“We haven’t seen a pullback,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told
ABC News. “He (Putin) can pull the trigger. He can pull it today. He can
pull it tomorrow. He can pull it next week. The forces are there if he
wants to renew aggression against Ukraine.”