Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby has released a statement expressing concern that Kremlin’s military build-up on the border with Ukraine is even bigger than in 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea.
He also described the deployment as “very seriously concerning.”
“It is the largest buildup we’ve seen certainly since 2014, which resulted in the violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Kirby told a news conference. “It is certainly bigger than the last one in 2014.”
“I’m not going to get into specific numbers or troop formations in terms of the Russian buildup,” he said.
“We do continue to see that buildup, (it’s), as it was before, very seriously concerning to us,” Kirby said.
“We don’t believe that this buildup is conducive to security and stability along the border with Ukraine and certainly not in occupied Crimea.”
“We certainly heard the Russians proclaim that this is all about training,” he added. “It’s not completely clear to us that that’s exactly the purpose.”