This information led to US President Joe Biden’s statement on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had decided to attack Ukraine, citing the Washington Post as the source.
The AFP contacted the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department, but did not confirm or deny the allegations, which were passed on by other US media outlets.
A Pentagon source said on Friday that more than 40% of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine were under attack, adding that Russian-led instability had “begun.”
The same source said that the movement of Russian troops towards the Ukrainian border has been observed since Wednesday.
Washington has been warning for weeks that Russia could provoke an incident on the Ukrainian border to justify an invasion of Ukraine. US diplomat Anthony Blinken reaffirmed this Sunday that “everything” indicates that Russia is going to invade Ukraine.
Russia denies any invasion plan, but demands security guarantees such as NATO’s withdrawal from Eastern Europe, which has been rejected by the West.
Macron and Putin held another hour-long meeting in Ukraine
On Sunday night, the presidents of France, Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin of Russia spoke for another hour, and for the second time, to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, Elysee announced.
Macron spoke with Putin for about two hours in the afternoon.In the framework of discussions between heads of state trying to prevent armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.
“Given the seriousness of the current situation, the presidents acknowledged that it would be better to intensify the search for solutions through diplomatic means through the political advisers of the leaders of the foreign policy departments and the Normandy form” (Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France), the Kremlin said in a statement.
The French presidency has announced that the two leaders have agreed to carry out “serious work” leading to a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.