U.S. sees Russian troops training in Belarus as manifestation of escalation

The relevant statement was made at a Washington briefing by White House Spokeswoman Jen Psaki, an Ukrinform's correspondent reported on February 9.

"As we look at the preparation for these military exercises, again, we see this as certainly more of an escalatory and not a de-escalatory action," said the U.S. administration spokeswoman.

She stressed that the buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine, including in Belarus, is of concern to Washington.

Psaki also commented on the assessments that emerged after the French president's visit to Moscow – that the Russian side is allegedly demonstrating readiness to have a diplomatic dialogue. "We’re looking at actions here, and we have not seen de-escalatory actions by the Russians," she said.

The White House spokeswoman also said Biden had spoken to Macron after the latter’s talks with Putin. In addition, the U.S. President this week received the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and in the coming days, he intends to talk to other European leaders about Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

At the same time, when asked if Biden was set to talk to Putin, Psaki said that as of today, "I don’t have anything to preview at this point in time."

As Ukrinform reported earlier, a joint Russian-Belarusian exercise, "Allied Resolve," will kick off in Belarus on February 10. Ukraine and international partners have stated that they are closely monitoring the process and have intelligence about the ongoing actions near the border of Ukraine.

im