NATO is planning to increase its troop presence in its eastern flank close to Ukraine, dpa has learned from sources close to the Western military alliance, despite demands from Moscow to do precisely the opposite.
The 30 alliance members signed off a related proposal this week, dpa learned on Friday, after weeks of discussion.
Following Moscow's 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian territory Crimea, NATO deployed four battlegroups of multinational forces in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.
With more than 100,000 Russian troops now stationed near Ukraine's borders and fears over an invasion mounting, plans are afoot to station more NATO troops nearby in states like Romania.
The decision is to be confirmed and announced at a NATO defence ministers meeting in Brussels next week, dpa understands, and could be implemented within weeks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been calling on NATO to reverse its eastward expansion, among other things, so the development may well stoke already sky-high tensions in the region.
The Kremlin accuses NATO countries of scare-mongering about an incursion for which it claims to have absolutely no plans. It says the only way to calm the situation is for the West to agree to its wish list of security demands issued in December.
The Ukrainian government, which has been battling against Russian-backed separatist forces in the eastern Donbas region since 2014, has called on its Western allies to help stave off an invasion.
Slovakia and Bulgaria could also possibly host NATO troops. France has already offered to lead a NATO battlegroup in Romania. "Many other allies" are willing to contribute, NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg said Friday.
Hungary - also in the alliance's eastern flank - has said it doesn't see the need to host NATO forces.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Friday that Russian troops could invade Ukraine "at any time."
"We're in a window when an invasion could begin at any time and to be clear: That includes during the Olympics," Blinken said in Melbourne, Australia, following a meeting of foreign ministers from Australia, Japan and India.
Blinken attended the Quadrilateral Security Cooperation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had attended the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing on February 4, together with China's leader Xi Jinping. The Games are due to run until February 20.
"Simply put, we continue to see very worrying signs of Russian escalation," Blinken said.
President Joe Biden said on Thursday that US citizens needed to leave Ukraine "now."
"It’s not like we’re dealing with a terrorist organization. We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. It’s a very different situation, and things could go crazy quickly," he told NBC's "Nightly News" programme.
