USA and Russia are trying to guess the next move. Since Russian troops have started to gather along the Ukrainian border, no one knows the motive. There have been talks on a diplomatic level however most of the news about it is speculations.
Just last week, President Vladimir Putin called out the US government and media saying they are hyping it up. He also said that the west is pushing Russia to respond through armed combat. His primary concern is that NATO is expanding its footprint near the Russian border. Ukrainians themselves say that the threat is there but uncertain.
USA and Russia caught up in talks regarding the NATO open-door policy and Ukraine has the right to join. China is showing support for Russia in terms of ideology but not economically. Europe is worried that Russia could use the natural gas supply as an economic threat. No one really is sure the reason for the escalations. Although both sides are open for talks, no one seems to agree on anything at the moment.
Military experts say that President Putin has 70% of what he needs for a full-scale invasion assembled at the border. This is based on the latest intelligence received by the US government. Although the source is not disclosed. US officials publicly and privately stated that they are not sure if President Putin will have a military response. At the moment, they are calculating it.
Russia continues to add forces along the border and the US estimates soon they would have enough to begin. Given all Putin has moved and his public rhetoric on Ukraine and NATO, he could soon make a decision.
Some of the experts’ calculations include Kyiv falling within 48 hours should Russia unleash its full capacity. They also calculate Putin could decide for a multipronged operation. He could be sending in forces from several directions across Ukraine to quickly fracture the ability of Ukraine’s military to fight.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley warned during a news conference. “There’s a potential they could launch on very little warning”.