Talks with Russia to no avail, US officials: The drums of war have been heard

WASHINGTON – A week -long diplomatic effort between the West and Russia to ease tensions at the border Ukraine ended without results. A senior official United States of America (US) also issued a warning to prepare for escalation.

“The war drums have been ringing loudly and the rhetoric has gotten a bit shrill,” US diplomatic official Michael Carpenter said of the dialogue with Moscow that resulted in no breakthrough.

Moscow’s intentions remained unclear, he said, after talks in Europe were over.

“There are nearly 100,000 troops on the Russian side of the border with Ukraine. Their presence and the live-fire actions that are being carried out raise many questions about Moscow’s intentions,” he said. CNBC, Friday (14/1/2022).

He added that the US had seen advanced weaponry, artillery systems, electronic warfare systems and ammunition deployed along the Ukrainian border.

“That raises a lot of questions about what Russia’s intentions are. So we have to take this very seriously and we have to be prepared for a possible escalation,” said Carpenter, who acts as permanent US representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Meanwhile national security adviser Jake Sullivan said American intelligence agencies said Russia had prepared a pretext for an invasion – including through sabotage activities and information operations – accusing Ukraine of preparing an imminent attack on Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.

“We saw these guidelines in 2014, and they are preparing these guidelines again,” Sullivan told reporters at the White House.

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