WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday that the buildup of Russian forces along the Ukrainian border has reached the point where President Vladimir Putin now has a full range of military options, including actions short of a full-scale invasion.

“While we don’t believe President Putin has made the final decision to use these forces against Ukraine, he now clearly has the capability,” Austin told a Pentagon press conference.

In Moscow, the Kremlin said Putin had told French President Emmanuel Macron that the West had ignored Russian security concerns, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a radio interviewer that the Russia did not want war but saw no room for compromise on its demands.

Austin said Putin could use any part of his force of around 100,000 soldiers to seize Ukrainian cities and “important territories” or to carry out “coercive acts or provocative political acts” such as reconnaissance separatist territories inside Ukraine. He urged Putin to defuse tensions and appeared to warn Moscow against what the White House recently said was Russia’s intention to portray Ukraine as the aggressor by using a “false flag operation” to justify an attack.

“We remain focused on Russian disinformation, including potentially creating a pretext for another invasion or strikes on Donbass,” Austin said. “It’s straight out of the Russian playbook. They’re not fooling us.

Austin spoke alongside Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in their first in-depth public comments on the crisis, marking a subtle shift in the administration’s approach to matters. public communication on the escalation of the situation. While the two have consulted regularly with their NATO and Ukrainian counterparts, public discourse has focused on diplomatic efforts.

[Putin is unrelenting on Ukraine demands in meeting with France’s Macron aimed at heading off invasion]

The United States has put 8,500 troops on alert for potential deployment to support and reassure NATO allies, and Austin and Milley said on Friday that no U.S. forces have yet been deployed or moved to Europe. President Joe Biden, however, signaled a possible move soon. Returning to Washington after a Friday trip to Pennsylvania, Biden was asked if he had decided when he would move American troops to Eastern Europe.

“I will move American troops to Eastern Europe and NATO countries in the short term. Not many,” Biden said. Earlier this week, Biden said he might move them in the shorter term, “just because it takes time.”

Austin and Milley said the United States had taken into account the risk that any troop movement could escalate the situation, but stressed the need for America to reassure its allies. Moving large units with heavy equipment and weapons often requires more time due to travel and logistical challenges.

Milley painted a bleak picture of Russian military capabilities around Ukraine, saying there were not only ground troops and naval and air forces, but also cyber and electronic warfare capabilities, as well as special operations forces. He said the buildup was the largest he had seen in recent memory and he urged Putin to choose a diplomatic path over conflict.

“If Russia chooses to invade Ukraine, it will not be free, in terms of casualties and other significant effects,” Milley said. He was referring to Russian costs, while noting that Ukraine’s armed forces are more capable today than in 2014, when Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and stepped in to support pro-Russian separatists in the industrial heart of the East.

Earlier on Friday, the Kremlin said Putin had told Macron that the West had failed to heed Russia’s key conditions to stop NATO expansion, halt NATO’s weapons deployment alliance near the Russian borders and draw back its forces from Eastern Europe.

The United States and NATO formally rejected those demands this week, though Washington outlined areas where talks are possible, raising hopes there might be a way to avert war.

Despite this, US President Joe Biden warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday that there is a “strong possibility” that Russia will take military action against the former Soviet state in February. Russia has repeatedly denied having such plans.

Zelenskyy sought to downplay war fears, saying Western alarm over an impending invasion prompted many investors in the country’s financial markets to cash out.

“We don’t need this panic,” he told a news conference. “It cost the Ukrainians dearly.”

Putin told Macron that Moscow would study the response from the United States and NATO before deciding on its next move, according to a Kremlin account of their call. The Russian president made no public remarks about the Western response, but Lavrov said it left little chance of reaching a deal.

“While they say they won’t change their positions, we won’t change ours,” Lavrov told Russian radio stations in a live interview. “I see no room for compromise here.”

“There will be no war as it depends on the Russian Federation, we don’t want war,” he added. “But we will not allow our interests to be grossly trampled on and ignored.”

A senior Biden administration official said the United States welcomed Lavrov’s comments that Russia doesn’t want war, “but that needs to be backed up with actions.” We need to see Russia withdraw some of the troops it has deployed from the Ukrainian border and take other de-escalation steps. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Lavrov said the United States has suggested the two sides could discuss limits on the deployment of intermediate-range missiles, restrictions on military exercises and rules to prevent accidents between warships and aircraft. He said the Russians had offered to discuss these issues years ago, but Washington and its allies had never addressed them until now.

He also said that these issues are secondary to Russia’s main concerns with NATO. He said international agreements state that the security of one nation should not come at the expense of others, and said he would send letters asking his Western counterparts to explain their failure to meet this commitment. .

Washington has warned Moscow of devastating sanctions if it invades Ukraine, including sanctions targeting senior Russian officials and key economic sectors. Lavrov said Moscow had warned Washington that the sanctions would amount to a complete severance of ties.

NATO, meanwhile, said it was strengthening its deterrence in the Baltic Sea region.

Russia has launched military exercises involving motorized infantry and artillery units in southwestern Russia, warplanes in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea and dozens of warships in the Black Sea and the ‘Arctic. Russian troops are also in Belarus for joint exercises, raising fears in the West that Moscow could stage an attack on Ukraine from the north. The Ukrainian capital is only 75 kilometers (50 miles) from the border with Belarus.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said there would be no war unless Belarus or Russia were attacked and he accused the West of trying to “drown our Slavic brotherhood in blood”.

Despite the alarming rhetoric, Ukrainian officials have repeatedly tried to project calm.

Zelenskyy said the decision by the United States, Britain, Australia, Germany and Canada to withdraw some of their diplomats and dependents from Kiev was a “mistake”, and said that internal destabilization posed the greatest risk to his country.

He also lamented NATO’s failure to offer Ukraine a roadmap to membership, saying the alliance should make it clear if it does not plan to embrace Ukraine and make no vague promises.

Zelenskyy also disputed US warnings of an impending Russian attack, insisting that “we don’t see any bigger escalation than before.” He said Russia’s rise could be part of Moscow’s attempts to exert “psychological pressure” and sow panic.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told parliament that the number of Russian troops near Ukraine – around 130,000 – was comparable to Moscow’s military build-up last spring, when Moscow finally withdrew its forces after major exercises.

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Karmanau reported from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Isachenkov reported from Moscow. Lori Hinnant in Paris, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed.