Following weeks of tense negotiations over Russia’s movement of a task force to its border with Ukraine, The US department of defence has deployed 2000 US troops from stations at home to US bases in Poland and Romania in a bid to strengthen NATO logistical infrastructure.
Ukraine is currently engaged in training its civilian populations close to the Russo-Ukrainian border in a range of military skills from weapons handling to urban and open field battle drills.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko called the troop movement a "destructive and unjustified" step. Concerns are being raised whether this could hinder diplomatic negotiations to prevent any further escalation. Analysts are stating that (should Russia decide to invade at all) an invasion of Ukraine is most likely to happen within the next month or so before the frozen ground begins to thaw, making it difficult to move tracked vehicles and troop carriers.
The US and Russia have been locked in tight negotiations with neither side wanting to weaken its diplomatic position by backing down. This has led analysts to grave concern over the risk of the struggle becoming more internecine.
Russia’s troop movement to its South-Western border is now largely being interpreted as a reactionary movement to test the waters of the United States’ foreign policy in the wake of a catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan earlier in the summer of 2021. Following serious condemnation for amassing troops (something Mr. Putin likely did not expect) NATO has strengthened its resolution to strengthen its eastern frontier and has likely achieved the opposite of what the Kremlin likely hoped for.
Russia has been engaged in a proxy conflict with Ukrainian militias and military personnel since 2014 after the country made steps to strengthen ties with Europe over its former Soviet counterpart.