Russia has more troops on border since 2014, says US

Russia has more troops on Ukraine’s eastern border than at any time since 2014, when it annexed Crimea and backed separatist territory seizures, the White House said yesterday.

The United States is concerned by growing “Russian aggression” and is discussing its concerns with its Nato allies, said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

The Russian build-up has become the latest point of friction in icy relations between Moscow and US President Joe Biden’s administration, adding to disputes over arms control, human rights and other issues.

Mr Biden last week expressed “unwavering support” for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in his confrontation with Russia, which in 2014 annexed the Crimea peninsula and backed separatists who seized large parts of the eastern Donbas region.

Russia has said its troops are no threat and are defensive, but they would remain as long as the Kremlin sees fit.

Ms Psaki said that the United States “is increasingly concerned by recent escalating Russian aggressions in eastern Ukraine, including Russian troop movements on Ukraine’s border”.

“Russia now has more troops than at any time since 2014,” she added, saying that five Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the past week.

In March 2014, as the conflict in eastern Ukraine escalated, estimates put the number of Russian forces on Ukraine’s border at 25,000 to more than 30,000.

Ms Psaki’s comments followed by hours a telephone call in which German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded that Russian President Vladimir Putin pull his troops back to de-escalate the situation.