Washington. November 9th. INTERFAX - The United States is concerned about the movement of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine and calls on Moscow to clarify its intentions, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
"We continue to monitor the disturbing movements of the Russian military in the western regions of Russia and around Ukraine. We continue to call on Russia to clarify its intentions, what they are actually doing there," Kirby said at a briefing in response to a question about whether Kiev's message that 90 thousand Russian troops are on the border with Ukraine correspond to Pentagon estimates.
At the same time, the spokesman said: "I'm not going to go into intelligence estimates while on this podium, especially estimates regarding numbers."
He traditionally called on Russia to comply with the Minsk agreements and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Earlier, the American media spread reports that Russia was allegedly concentrating troops and military equipment on the border with Ukraine.
So, the newspaper Politico published satellite photos that allegedly indicate that Russia is building up tanks, self-propelled guns and military personnel. They, the newspaper writes, were made in the area of the Russian city of Yelnya, without indicating that it is located in the Smolensk region, bordering Belarus, and not Ukraine.
The Washington Post, citing its sources, reported that officials in the United States and Europe in recent weeks have noted "Russia's buildup of troops on the border with Ukraine" after the Russian-Belarusian military exercises "West 2021", which "causes concern."
Western media reports that Russia is pulling troops to the border with Ukraine do not correspond to reality, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"We drew attention to the information salvo that was fired, including at us, but in fact, to a greater extent, which took place in the articles of the American media about Russia pulling troops to the border with Ukraine," Zakharova said at a briefing on Wednesday.
