Ukraine has said Russia‘s deployment of tanks and snipers to its eastern border is an attempt to “provoke return fire.” New US intelligence findings reported by The Washington Post last week say Russia could launch an offensive against Ukraine “as soon as early 2022” with 100 battalion tactical groups. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that “the enemy increased the number of sniper pairs in readiness to inflict casualties on the personnel of the Joint Forces, destroy video surveillance elements and provoke return fire.”

Russia has also been running “training camps under the leadership of regular servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces,” while also increasing its military presence near the border “with additional 122-millimeter self-propelled artillery vehicles, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles,” the statement said.

Also Read: Vladimir Putin to seek guarantees over Ukraine from Joe Biden

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden on Tuesday held a video call to discuss the Ukraine tensions. 

In a statement after the talks, the White House said President Biden voiced the “deep concerns of the United States and our European allies about Russia’s escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine and made clear that the US and our allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation.”

“President Biden reiterated his support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy.”

Moscow said talks were needed as tensions in Europe are “off the scale.”

“We’ve consulted significantly with our allies and believe we have a path forward that would impose significant and severe harm on the Russian economy,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. “You can call that a threat. You can call that a fact. You can call that preparation. You can call it whatever you want to call it.”

Also Read: US warns Russia of consequences as Kremlin talks about war threat in Ukraine

Putin said last week that he intends to demand guarantees from Biden that NATO will not expand eastward toward Russia or deploy weapons near the Russian border.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on the allegations on Tuesday, redirecting questions to Russia’s Defense Ministry, which has not yet commented on the statement.