NATO chief: Risk of Russian invasion of Ukraine ‘going up’

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday said the risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine is “going up,” as tensions rise in the region amid Moscow’s troop buildup.

Asked during an interview on CNN’s “New Day” how likely a Russian invasion is at this moment, Stoltenberg said “the warning time is going down and the risk of an attack is going up,” pointing to Russia’s “continued military buildup” with more forces and “key enablers like military hospitals.”

Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border, stoking fears among the U.S. and its allies that the country is planning an invasion of Ukraine. Moscow, however, has denied having such plans.

Russia is demanding that the U.S. and its allies block Ukraine from joining NATO, stop sending weapons to the region and reduce its forces in Eastern Europe — all of which have been deemed non-starters by the U.S. and NATO.

Stoltenberg on Monday also said Russia’s track record of using force against Ukraine and Moscow’s strong, threatening rhetoric is causing a “real danger.”

“We also see the threatening rhetoric, the very strong rhetoric from Russia saying that they — we need to give into their demands, if not there will be what they call military technical consequences. And then of course we have the track record of Russia using force against Ukraine before,” Stoltenberg said.

“So if you put all that together, the military buildup, threatening rhetoric and the track record of Russia, of course, there is a real danger, but we continue to work for a political solution,” he added.

The secretary general said “it’s possible to preserve peace and that’s exactly why we put so much energy in from NATO side to find a political way forward.”

The Pentagon announced last week that it was deploying and repositioning more than 3,000 troops to strengthen Eastern European allies and bolster NATO’s capabilities in the region amid the heightened tensions.

The first troops have since arrived in Poland and Romania.

NATO last month announced that allies were dispatching additional ships and fighter jets to alliance deployments in Eastern Europe, and said nations were putting forces on standby.

Stoltenberg on Monday said “it is possible” to find a political solution to the increased tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

He said NATO is “ready to sit down to listen to Russian concerns.”