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United Kingdom Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says Russia assures they will "not invade Ukraine."
On Friday, Wallace told reporters at the U.K. embassy in Moscow during a news conference that he had a "constructive and frank" discussion with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Head of Army Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov.
"We listened to assurances... that they would not invade Ukraine," Wallace said.
Russia has around 130,000 deployed near the Ukrainian border, and Newsweek also previously reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he doesn't want war. However, new satellite images appear to show new large deployments of troops and equipment in Crimea, Belarus, and Kursk in western Russia. Russia is also scheduled to start large-scale naval drills in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
Wallace said the three discussed the ongoing tensions around Ukraine and its border, Russia's drafted treaty the country offered to NATO, as well as improvement to the bilateral relationship, worries on both sides, and other subjects. He said they also agreed on the implementation of the Minsk agreement was a "clear way forward."
The Minsk agreement encompasses two agreements signed in September 2014 and February 2015 under the supervision of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Newsweek reported. These agreements stopped the fighting between Ukrainian and separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.
"I was clear about the tragic consequences that any invasion of Ukraine could have for all people, both Ukraine and Russia, and the security of Europe," Wallace said.
Wallace said they urged communication for any concerns Russia and its government may have.
"I reasserted that our concerns in the Western NATO was as much about the right of a country to choose its future and its alliances as it was anything else," Wallace said. "And that right of choice is a choice that has been underpinned by numerous treaties and declarations signed by both Russian governments and indeed Western governments over many years as far back as the 1970s."
The forces near Ukraine and in Belarus have the ability to do a "whole range of action including invading a neighboring country at any time," Wallace said. Wallace said with the readiness the forces are at, it is an active exercise, "certainly in Belarus."
The start of joint military drills between Russia and Belarus on February 10 was what NATO called a "dangerous moment" for European security, according to The Moscow Times.
With the build-up of Russian military around Ukraine, Russian analysts believe this gives Moscow the ability to conduct an offensive action on short notice, The Moscow Times reported. An expert on the Russian military and fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute, Rob Lee, told The Moscow Times that "the Russian military, as of this week, has all the military capabilities to actually conduct a large-scale invasion."
Update 02/11/22 12:20 p.m. ET: This story was updated to include background information and comment from United Kingdom Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
