Russian President Vladimir Putin is “as ready as he can be” for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a US official has warned.
The US believes the Russian military has 80 per cent of troops assembled around Ukraine in an attack position to launch an invasion at any time.
"He is as ready as he can be. We’ve been saying any day now and it’s certainly possible that today is that day," a US defence official told Reuters. “Whether they actually go or not is really up to Mr Putin ... They could go at any hour now.”
With Putin estimated to have 150,000 troops stationed near the Ukraine border, the US official’s estimate puts 120,000 of those in “attack position”. The official added that Putin is also “dang near” having 100 per cent of his forces ready.
Ukraine declared a nationwide state of emergency and warned its citizens to leave Russia on Wednesday after Putin recognised the independence of the two separatist-controlled territories and ordered so-called “peacekeeping” troops into the disputed Donbas region.
“We still cannot confirm that Russian military forces have moved in the Donbas areas,” the defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
Those forward positions “ready to go” placed the Russian troops within 5 to 50 kilometres (3 to 30 miles) of the Ukraine border.
Hopes for a diplomatic way out of a new, potentially devastating war in Europe appeared all but sunk as the US and key European allies accused Moscow of crossing a red line Tuesday in rolling over Ukraine’s border into separatist regions in Ukraine’s east called Donbas, with some calling it an invasion.
Russia emptied its diplomatic posts in Ukraine, state news agency Tass reported, a day after the Foreign Ministry announced a plan to evacuate, citing threats. By Wednesday afternoon, the Russian flag no longer flew over the Kyiv embassy, and police surrounded the building.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
