The Latest: US: Russian forces near Ukraine 'ready to go'

Washington, Feb 23 (AP): A senior .

The Latest: US: Russian forces near Ukraine 'ready to go'

Washington, Feb 23 (AP): A senior U.S. defence official in Washington says the Russian forces arrayed along Ukraine's borders are “as ready as they can be” for an invasion, if ordered to launch it.

U.S. authorities have estimated that Russia has more than 150,000 troops along Ukraine's borders with Russia and Belarus.

About 80% of those forces are now in “what we would consider forward positions, ready to go,” the official said, adding that they are within 5 to 50 kilometers (3 to 31 miles) of the border. The official added “we still cannot confirm that Russian forces have moved into the Donbas (a rebel-held area in eastern Ukraine)." The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.

The official said the U.S. has indications — based on intelligence as well as visual evidence — that “they (Russian forces) have advanced their readiness to a point where they are literally ready to go now, if they get the order to go.” ___ UNITED NATIONS -- China's United Nations ambassador is urging a diplomatic and peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis, stressing Beijing's “consistent” position “on safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states” and upholding the U.N. Charter.

In brief remarks to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, Ambassador Zhang Jun, whose country is usually allied with Russia at the United Nations, did not mention Russia by name or in any way endorse President Vladimir Putin's declaration of independence for Ukraine's separatist areas or Putin's decision to send Russian forces there as what he called “peacekeepers.” The Chinese ambassador noted that the current situation in Ukraine “is rooted in a complex web of historical and present day factors” and said “all parties concerned should exercise restraint and avoid taking any action that may aggravate tensions.” “China calls on all parties to recognize the importance of implementing the principle of indivisible security, to continue to engage in dialogue and consultation and to seek reasonable solutions that address each other's concerns. through peaceful means on the basis of equality and mutual respect,” Zhang said.

___ GENEVA — The Swiss government is condemning Russia's recognition of two regions of eastern Ukraine as independent states and is vowing to make sure that Switzerland isn't used to evade European Union and other international sanctions.

The executive Federal Council, a seven-member body, said Wednesday it decided not to adopt the EU sanctions — as it often does — but criticized the “violation of international law and Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.” Switzerland is not among the members of the 27-country EU, but is all but surrounded by four of them: Austria, France, Germany and Italy.

The Swiss government does not recognize the independence of the two territories, Donetsk and Luhansk.

Switzerland is a major international banking center, and its generally stable hard currency — the Swiss franc — and high-tech financial institutions have lured many international investors and elites, including those from Russia.

___ UNITED NATIONS — Russia's U.N. ambassador is urging the world's nations to rein in what he called Ukraine's ongoing violence and “blatant genocide” in eastern separatist regions of the country that Moscow has declared independent.

The eastern Donbas region of Ukraine is a flashpoint in the tensions between Russia and Ukraine, as the United States warns Moscow is seeking a pretext to invade its neighbor. Ukraine has denied any aggression against pro-Russian forces in the eastern area, including Luhansk and Donetsk, which borders Russia.

Russian President Vladmir Putin has declared those republics independent and plans to send Russia troops there as what he called “peacekeepers.” Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's U.N. ambassador, warned the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday that “no one intends to go softly, softly with any violators” of the peace in those eastern areas of Ukraine.

He said the departure of tens of thousands of people from Luhansk and Donetsk to Russia -- including 96,000 people on Wednesday -- shows Ukraine's disparaging treatment of people there, including dubbing them “terrorists.” ___ UNITED NATIONS — U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield is telling countries around the world that “now is the time to get off the sidelines” and speak out against Russia's actions toward Ukraine.

“There is no middle ground here. Calling for both sides to de-escalate only gives Russia a pass. Russia is the aggressor here,” Thomas-Greenfield said at a U.N. General Assembly meeting Wednesday.

She called on Russia “to come back to the negotiating table and to work toward peace.” ___ BERLIN — The head of the German parliament's foreign policy committee says the government is considering providing further protective equipment to Ukraine.

Michael Roth said after a special meeting of the committee Wednesday with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock that there are talks with the Ukrainian government on delivering night-vision devices, for example, German news agency dpa reported.

He said it's also possible that protective equipment no longer needed after the German military withdrew from Afghanistan last year could be provided.

Germany has refused to deliver lethal weapons to Ukraine, a stance that has irked some allies, but has said it would deliver 5,000 helmets.

___ BOSTON — Ukrainian government and banking websites have been knocked offline with another wave of distributed-denial-of-service attacks.

The targets Wednesday included the defense, foreign and interior ministries, as well as Privatbank, the country's largest commercial bank.

Many of the same sites were similarly hit in Feb.13-14 attacks that the U.S. and U.K. governments quickly blamed on Russia's GRU military intelligence agency. Such attacks barrage websites with junk traffic, rendering them unreachable.

Wednesday's DDoS attacks appeared to be less impactful than the previous onslaught, with targeted sites soon reachable again as emergency responders blunted them.

Cyberattacks have been a key tool of Russian aggression in Ukraine since 2014, when the Kremlin annexed Crimea and hackers tried to thwart elections.

___ BRUSSELS — European Union sanctions against Russia have taken effect.

They are the first steps in a planned series of retaliatory measures devised to be cranked up if Russian President Vladimir Putin orders an attack or pushes his troops deeper into Ukraine.

The sanctions that took effect Wednesday targeted senior Russian government officials, several companies and hundreds of lawmakers who voted in favor of recognizing the independence of separatist parts of southeast Ukraine.

The sanctions are mostly a freeze on the assets of those listed and a ban on them traveling in the 27-nation EU.

The measures come on top of a slew of economic and other sanctions slapped on Russia since it annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

Those sanctions already targeted Russia's financial, energy and defense sectors, as well as goods that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

___ UNITED NATIONS — Ukraine's foreign minister wants the world to stand together against Russia, arguing that Moscow's aggression toward his country will have wider repercussions for the international order.

Dmytro Kuleba told the U.N. General Assembly that the deployment of Russian troops in rebel-held parts of eastern Ukraine and Moscow's recognition of the rebel regions as independent amounts to an “attack on the United Nations.” He said: “If Russia does not get a severe swift and decisive response now, this will mean a total bankruptcy of the international security system and international institutions.” Kuleba urged countries to use tough economic sanctions, strong messages and “active diplomacy” to get Russia to back off from Ukraine.

“We are at a critical juncture of world history, and our actions today define it for years to come,” he said, drawing parallels with the leadups to the last century's two world wars.

___ WARSAW — Polish leaders are pushing for harsh sanctions against Russia for its military intimidation of their joint neighbor Ukraine, noting that past penalties have had questionable effect.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Wednesday that sanctions slapped on Moscow after Russia's 2014 snatching of Crimea from Ukraine were too soft.

President Andrzej Duda, who visited Kyiv in a show of support for Ukraine, said: “I deeply believe ... that we will be able to achieve this through peaceful means ... but I am also aware that the sanctions will have to be very tough.” The lower house of Poland's parliament, the Sejm, unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the international community to adopt harsh economic and diplomatic sanctions against Moscow.

Poland, which is EU and NATO member, borders on its eastern side with Ukraine and Belarus, where Russian troops are stationed.

___ BRUSSELS — European leaders plan an in-person emergency summit on Thursday evening in Brussels to discuss the tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

European Union Council president Charles Michel said in his invitation letter to the 27 leaders that the “use of force and coercion to change borders has no place in the 21st century.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had already planned to hold a 90-minute virtual meeting of Group of Seven leaders on Thursday afternoon. That meeting was announced last week.

Michel praised the heads of states and government for the unity shown by the bloc in recent days to ensure the adoption of sanctions against Russia and deter its suspected plans to invade Ukraine.

___ ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Turkey does not recognize Moscow's steps taken against Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Russia has formally recognized the independence of pro-Russian separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, in a move that increased tension.

A statement from the Turkish president's office said Erdogan renewed a call for a diplomatic resolution of the crisis in Ukraine in a telephone conversation with Putin on Wednesday.

The statement said Turkey, a member of NATO and a Black Sea neighbor of Russia, wants talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

___ MOSCOW -- Russia has started evacuating its embassy in Kyiv, as fears mount that Russian President Vladimir Putin might be about to order an invasion of Ukraine.

Russian state news agency Tass reported that Russia began pulling personnel from its diplomatic posts in Ukraine on Wednesday.

The move came a day after the Russian Foreign Ministry announced a plan to evacuate, citing threats against Russians in Ukraine.

At the same time, Ukraine urged its citizens to leave Russia as the region braced for a military confrontation, with some 150,000 Russian troops deployed around Ukraine's borders.

Putin on Tuesday received authorization to use military force outside his country and the West responded with sanctions.

___ JERUSALEM — After keeping a low profile in the military and diplomatic standoff between Moscow and Kyiv due to its close ties with both, Israel says it supports the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of Ukraine.

A statement Wednesday from Israel's foreign ministry expressed concern about the “serious escalation” in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow is formally recognizing the independence of two pro-Russian breakaway regions.

The statement made no mention of Russia, which the United States and its NATO fear is poised to launch a full-blown attack on Ukraine. The statement said Israel “hopes for a diplomatic solution which will lead to calm, and is willing to help if asked.” The foreign ministry voiced concern about the welfare of its citizens in Ukraine and the country's Jewish community.

Israel is home to a large population of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, including Ukraine.

___ BRUSSELS -- The deputy chairman of Russia's State Duma claims Russians are unimpressed by the sanctions slapped on their country by the European Union.

Pyotr Tolstoy, who is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Wednesday that Moscow is planning a response to the sanctions. He did not give details.

Tolstoy told Belgian broadcaster RTBF the EU sanctions were “worthless.” The EU on Tuesday announced sanctions against the 351 Duma legislators who voted in favor of formally recognizing pro-Russian separatist regions in Ukraine, among others.

___ BEIJING -- China is accusing the United States of creating “fear and panic” over the crisis in Ukraine.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Wednesday that China opposes new sanctions on Russia, reiterating a longstanding Chinese position.

She said the U.S. was fueling tensions by providing weapons to Kyiv in response to Russia's large troop deployment around Ukraine's borders and fears of an invasion.

China-Russia ties have grown closer under Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin at talks in Beijing earlier this month.

The two sides issued a joint statement backing Moscow's opposition to a NATO expansion in former Soviet republics and buttressing China's claim to the self-governing island of Taiwan — key foreign policy issues for Beijing and Moscow.

Hua said Beijing wants multilateral talks to ease the mounting international tension over Ukraine. She did not mention efforts by the U.S., France and others to engage Russia diplomatically.

___ MOSCOW — Ukraine's top diplomat wants to see tougher sanctions slapped on Russia over its aggressive posture toward his country.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Wednesday on Twitter: “To stop Putin from further aggression, we call on partners to impose more sanctions on Russia now.” He expressed thanks for international sanctions imposed on Moscow the previous day. But he asked countries to crank up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kuleba wrote: “Hit his economy and cronies. Hit more. Hit hard. Hit now.” ___ LONDON -- Britain's foreign secretary has defended the speed and scale of sanctions against Russia, saying the government is holding some measures in reserve for use in the event of a full-scale incursion into Ukraine.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told Sky News that western powers want to keep some sanctions “in the locker'' to deter Russian leader Vladimir Putin's ambitions. British authorities have said they were seeking to verify troop movements before deciding how to proceed.

“We've heard from Putin himself that he is sending in troops,'' Truss told Sky. “We don't yet have the full evidence that that has taken place. What we are expecting ... is a full-scale invasion, including potentially of Kyiv.” Truss's comments came as she defended the government's decision to impose sanctions on just five Russian banks and three wealthy individuals following Putin's decision to recognize the independence of two breakaway regions of Ukraine and to send troops into the area as “peacekeepers.” UK opposition leaders and defense experts have criticized the government for not imposing tougher sanctions, especially after the U.S. and European Union moved more aggressively to punish Putin. (AP) AMS AMS

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)