美国最高国防官员、国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀和参谋长联席会议主席马克·米利周五表示，俄罗斯现在已经积累了足够的军事力量，可以向乌克兰进军，甚至可能是其最大的城市。
两位领导人敦促莫斯科寻求和平解决与乌克兰的危机，并向北约盟国保证，美国准备帮助加强与乌克兰接壤的北约国家。
奥斯汀告诉记者，数月来，随着克里姆林宫向克里米亚和乌克兰边境(包括白俄罗斯)部署军队，俄罗斯军队“一直在稳步前进”。
“我们不相信普京总统已经做出了对乌克兰使用这些力量的最终决定。他现在显然有这种能力，他有多种选择，”奥斯汀说。“包括夺取城市和重要领土”或“像承认分裂领土这样的挑衅性政治行为。”
该国最高军事官员米利(Milley)表示，俄罗斯政府已经在乌克兰边境集结了超过“10万名地面部队、空军、海军、特种部队、网络、电子战、指挥控制、后勤、工程师和其他能力。”
当被问及这一威胁是否与几年前有所不同时，麦莉说，“这比我们最近记忆中看到的任何力量聚集的规模和范围都大。”
米莉补充说，鉴于俄罗斯军队的兵力和火力，俄罗斯入侵对乌克兰来说将是灾难性的，会造成“大量伤亡”
“你可以想象在人口密集的城市地区、道路沿线等等地方会是什么样子。那太可怕了。这太可怕了，”他说。“而且这也没有必要，我们认为外交结果是解决问题的途径。”
随着8500名美国士兵本周进入“高度戒备”状态，前往该地区，奥斯汀说，“如果北约启动其反应部队，这些部队将准备出发。”
奥斯汀说:“把我们的力量放在一根更短的绳子上，使我们能够在更短的时间内到达那里。他解释说，宣布提高戒备状态的决定反映了“确保我们准备好履行对北约的承诺”的重点。
“冲突不是不可避免的。外交仍有时间和空间，”奥斯汀继续说道。“美国与我们的盟友和伙伴步调一致，为俄罗斯提供了一条远离危机、实现更大安全的道路。国防部将继续支持这些外交努力。”
奥斯汀说:“我们专注于让我们的盟友放心，这就是一切。“就信任普京而言，我认为这与信任普京无关。这是关于我们的盟友信任我们。”
他还说，美国仍然致力于向乌克兰提供财政安全援助，并与北约盟国保持统一战线。
奥斯汀说:“正如我们已经表明的那样，除了俄罗斯将付出的巨大经济和外交代价之外，对乌克兰采取行动将实现俄罗斯所说的它不希望北约联盟在其西部得到加强和解决的事情。“美国将为北约的反应部队做出贡献，我们将与我们的北约盟友进行协调，我们将确保他们拥有自卫所需的能力。”
当被问及信任俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京需要什么时，奥斯汀说，这不是信任普京，而是“我们的盟友信任我们——所以这才是我们真正关注的。”
白宫表示，美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)周四与乌克兰总统沃洛季米尔·泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelenskyy)通了电话，以“重申我们支持乌克兰的主权和领土完整”，此前美国对俄罗斯的安全要求做出了外交回应，并拒绝同意其核心要求，即永远不允许乌克兰加入北约。
我与乌克兰总统泽伦斯基进行了交谈，讨论了我们协调一致的外交努力，并重申我们支持乌克兰的主权和领土完整。如果俄罗斯进一步入侵乌克兰，我们将与我们的盟友和伙伴一道做出果断回应。pic.twitter.com/hRaUIxyxCd
——拜登总统(@POTUS)2022年1月28日
在周五上午的新闻发布会上，约翰·苏利文大使重申，对乌克兰的任何进一步入侵都将受到大规模的经济制裁。他在周四发表了美国的回应。
俄罗斯外交部长谢尔盖·拉夫罗夫(Sergei Lavrov)周五在与俄罗斯媒体的新闻发布会上反驳称，除非与西方达成有保障的安全协议，否则克里姆林宫将采取报复措施。
拉夫罗夫说:“如果我们就提供欧洲安全的相互可接受的原则达成协议的努力失败，我们将诉诸报复措施。
周五晚些时候，法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙计划与普京直接对话，因为世界各国领导人都在寻求外交解决方案。
尽管白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)周四重申了拜登政府的信念，即随着俄罗斯军队继续进行军事演习以展示武力，入侵乌克兰可能“随时到来”，但乌克兰官员敦促本国人民不要恐慌。
乌克兰总统说:“我们感谢大家的支持。泽伦斯基说@IanPannell。“但我不能像其他政客一样，仅仅因为自己是美国人就感激美国...我们希望成为合作伙伴和真正的朋友。”https://t.co/EUf86T6Mrapic.twitter.com/GrMxtSM2nz
—美国广播公司新闻政治(@美国广播公司政治)2022年1月28日
虽然目前还不清楚俄罗斯是否或何时可能真的入侵，但一些人猜测，进攻可能会与即将在北京举行的冬奥会同时进行，因为俄罗斯过去曾利用冬季和夏季奥运会作为掩护，发起军事行动。
Pentagon says enough Russian forces to move on Ukraine's cities
The nation's top defense officials, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said Friday that Russia now has amassed enough military forces to move on Ukraine, possibly even its largest cities.
Both leaders urged Moscow to seek a peaceful resolution to the crisis with Ukraine and reassured NATO allies that the U.S. was ready to help reinforce NATO nations bordering Ukraine.
Austin told reporters that Russian military forces have "progressed at a consistent and steady pace" for months as the Kremlin has deployed forces to Crimea and along Ukraine's border, including in Belarus.
"We don't believe that President Putin has made a final decision to use these forces against Ukraine. He clearly now has that capability, and there are multiple options available to him," Austin said. "Including the seizure of cities and significant territories" or "provocative political acts like the recognition of breakaway territories."
Milley, the nation's highest-ranking military officer, said the Russian government has amassed more than "100,000 ground forces, air forces, naval forces, special forces, cyber, electronic warfare, command and control, logistics, engineers and other capabilities along the Ukraine border."
Asked if this threat feels different from years past, Miley said, "This is larger than anything in scale and scope in the massing of forces than anything we've seen in recent memory."
Milley added that given the array of forces and the amount of firepower the Russian military has amassed a Russian invasion would be catastrophic for Ukraine, causing "a significant amount of casualties."
"You can imagine what that might look like in dense urban areas, along roads and so on and so forth. It would be horrific. It would be terrible," he said. "And it's not necessary, and we think a diplomatic outcome is the way to go here."
With 8,500 U.S. troops in the U.S. on "heightened alert" this week to head to the region, Austin said, "If NATO activates its Response Force, these troops will be ready to go."
"Putting our forces on a shorter string enables us to get there in a shorter period of time," said Austin. He explained that the decision to announce the heightened alert status reflected the focus "on making sure we're ready to live up to our commitment to NATO.
"Conflict is not inevitable. There is still time and space for diplomacy," Austin continued. "The United States, in lockstep with our allies and partners, has offered Russia a path away from crisis and toward greater security in the Department of Defense will continue to support those diplomatic efforts."
"We're focused on reassuring our allies and that's what this is all about," said Austin. "In terms of trusting Putin, I don't think this is about trusting Putin. This is about our allies trusting us."
He also said the U.S. remains committed to sending financial security assistance to Ukraine and holding a united front with NATO allies.
"As we've made clear, in addition to the significant economic and diplomatic costs that Russia will incur, a move on Ukraine will accomplish the very thing Russia says it does not want a NATO Alliance strengthened and resolved on its western flank," Austin said. "The United States will contribute to NATO's response forces, and we will coordinate with our NATO allies, and we will make sure that they have the capabilities that they need to defend themselves."
Asked what it would take for him to trust Russian President Vladimir Putin, Austin said it's not about trusting Putin but "about our allies trusting us -- and so that's really what we're focused on."
The White House said President Joe Biden had a call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, to "reaffirm our support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," after the U.S. hand-delivered its diplomatic response to Russia's security demands and refused to agree to its central request that Ukraine never be allowed into NATO.
I spoke with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to discuss our coordinated diplomatic efforts and reaffirm our support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We will respond decisively — along with our Allies and partners — if Russia further invades Ukraine.pic.twitter.com/hRaUIxyxCd
— President Biden (@POTUS)January 28, 2022
At a press briefing Friday morning from Moscow, Ambassador John Sullivan, who delivered that U.S. response Thursday, reiterated that any further incursion to Ukraine would be met with massive economic sanctions.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a press conference with Russian media on Friday, countered that the Kremlin will take retaliatory measures unless a guaranteed security agreement is reached with the West.
"If our attempt at reaching an agreement on mutually acceptable principles of the provision of European security fails, we will resort to retaliatory measures," Lavrov said.
Later on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron was scheduled to speak directly with Putin as world leaders engage in finding a diplomatic solution.
While White House press secretary Jen Psaki repeated on Thursday the Biden administration's belief that an invasion of Ukraine could "come at any time" as Russian troops continue military exercises in a show of force, officials in Ukraine have urged their people not to panic.
JUST IN: "We are grateful for the support," Ukrainian Pres. Zelenskyy tells@IanPannell."But I can't be like other politicians who are grateful to the United States just for being United States...We want to be partners and true friends."https://t.co/EUf86T6Mrapic.twitter.com/GrMxtSM2nz
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics)January 28, 2022
While it's unclear if Russia if or when Russia may actually invade, some have speculated an offensive could be timed with the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing as Russia has used both winter and summer Olympic Games in the past as cover to launch military action.
