U.S. signals support for Ukraine, sends warning to Russia

WASHINGTON — Sending a tough diplomatic warning to Russia — backed by a show of military force — the Biden administration on Thursday vowed to stand by Ukraine and its beleaguered government in its struggle with “destabilizing actions” from Moscow.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a swing through the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, said the administration was considering more defense aid for the former Soviet republic as threats from Russia persisted.

“We look to Russia to cease reckless and aggressive actions,” Blinken said during a joint press appearance with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Ukraine is often seen as being on the front lines against Russian aggression, with the defense of its sovereignty a key test for the U.S. and western Europe.

Russia last month deployed an estimated 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine and in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Moscow invaded and annexed in 2014. President Vladimir Putin then announced a withdrawal, but both Blinken and Zelenskiy said Thursday that “significant” numbers of Russian troops and weaponry remain amassed in the area. “Russia has the capacity on fairly short notice to take aggressive action if it so chooses,” Blinken said.

The Pentagon estimates there are still 70,000 to 80,000 Russian troops near the border, the most Moscow has put there since the Crimean annexation, according to a senior U.S. official familiar with intelligence estimates.

More than 14,000 people have been killed in fighting with Russian-backed separatists.

Blinken arrived in Kyiv during massive NATO military exercises throughout Eastern Europe involving 28,000 troops from the U.S. and other countries. It includes maneuvers and live fire training in multiple countries, including airborne operations in Romania and Bulgaria.

Together, the actions on the diplomatic and military fronts were intended to send an explicit message to Putin that the new U.S. government would punish alleged behavior that has included devastating cyberattacks and election interference in the U.S.; the poisoning of political dissidents; and military aggression in neighboring countries. The positioning of the NATO forces for the drills is meant to signal to Moscow that the Pentagon could move swiftly to insert forces near the Black Sea if a crisis occurred. A long list of economic sanctions against Russian officials and businesses has failed to deter Putin.