US: Russia troop presence near Ukraine border tops 130,000

Ukraine's president has urged calm amid intensified warnings of a possible Russian invasion within days, saying he had yet to see convincing evidence of that, even as the US reported that Moscow positioned more of its troops closer to Ukraine's borders and some airlines cancelled flights to the capital of Kiev.

President Joe Biden spoke for about 50 minutes on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and renewed promises of what the West says will be tough economic sanctions against Moscow and a NATO buildup in the event of "any further Russian aggression" against Ukraine, the White House said. 

They agreed to pursue both deterrence and diplomacy in the crisis, it added.

Zelenskyy invited Biden to Kiev "in the coming days".

"I am convinced that your visit to Kiev in the coming days... would be a powerful signal and help stabilise the situation," the presidency quoted Zelensky as telling Biden in a phone call earlier on Sunday.

The US updated its estimate for how many Russian forces were now staged near Ukraine's borders to more than 130,000, up from the 100,000 the US has cited publicly in previous weeks. 

A US official gave the estimate, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration’s conclusion.

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Ukraine plays down US warnings 

Zelenskyy's repeated statements playing down the US warnings — while Moscow's forces surround Ukraine on three sides in what the Kremlin insists are military exercises –– grew this weekend to his questioning the increasingly strident statements from US officials in recent days that Russia could be planning to invade as soon as midweek.

While Zelenskyy has urged against panic that he fears could undermine Ukraine'’s economy, he and his civilian and military leaders also are preparing defences, soliciting and receiving a flow of arms from the US and other NATO members.

Zelenskyy wore military olive drab at a drill with tanks and helicopters near Ukraine's border with Russian-annexed Crimea this weekend. In the nearby city of Kalanchak, some expressed disbelief that Russian President Vladimir Putin would really send the troops poised along Ukraine's borders rolling into the country.

"I don’t believe Russia will attack us," said resident Boris Cherepenko. "I have friends in Sakhalin, in Krasnodar," he said, naming Russian locations. "I don’t believe it."

The US picked up intelligence that Russia is looking at Wednesday as a target date, according to a US official familiar with the findings. The official, who also was not authorised to speak publicly and did so only on condition of anonymity, would not say how definitive the intelligence was.

"We’re not going to give Russia the opportunity to conduct a surprise here, to spring something on Ukraine or the world," Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, told CNN on Sunday, about the US warnings.

"We are going to make sure that we are laying out for the world what we see as transparently and plainly as we possibly can," he said.

The US largely has not made public the evidence it says is underlying its most specific warnings on possible Russian planning or timing.

The Russians have deployed missile, air, naval and special operations forces, as well as supplies to sustain an invasion. This week, Russia moved six amphibious assault ships into the Black Sea, augmenting its capability to land on the coast.

Zelenskyy's comments this weekend indicated frustration at the warnings from Washington.

"We understand all the risks, we understand that there are risks," he said in a live broadcast. "If you, or anyone else, has additional information regarding a 100 percent Russian invasion starting on the 16th, please forward that information to us."

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Russia's demands 

Russia is demanding that the West keep former Soviet countries out of NATO. It also wants NATO to refrain from deploying weapons near its border and to roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe — demands flatly rejected by the West.

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014 when Ukraine's Kremlin-friendly leader was driven from office by a popular uprising. 

Moscow responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula and then backing a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed over 14,000 people.

A 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany helped halt large-scale battles, but regular skirmishes have continued, and efforts to reach a political settlement have stalled.

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