This was reported by Bloomberg.

According to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Russia now has 122,000 troops within 200 kilometers of the border.

According to the Janes defense and reconnaissance company, satellite images show that tanks, artillery and air defense systems have also been relocated to border areas near Ukraine since November.

"Russia will be able to quickly and secretly strengthen them through large-scale deployments by train or plane", - was informed in the statement.

The situation on the border between Russia and Ukraine has intensified rapidly in recent months. The United States and other Western officials have blamed the Russian government for hauling military equipment to Ukraine's borders.

"Grouping forces is a common demonstration of the force needed to embarrass an opponent as much as possible. This does not indicate an iron determination to use it", - Natalia Kharitonova said, an international security expert at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of Russia.

Bloomberg also notes that the Kremlin "already got some of what it wanted when the United States agreed to negotiate Russia's demand for" legally binding "security guarantees". These arrangements would not allow the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to expand further east, nor would it allow Ukraine to eventually gain membership.

"We do not know about Putin's final decision to invade. But he is gathering military capabilities to do so in the short term. Therefore, despite the uncertainty of intentions and deadlines, we must be prepared for any unforeseen situations, trying to get Russia to change its course", - US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Riga.

It will be recalled that the Kremlin justifies its actions by saying that Ukraine is too close to NATO, and it is the West that is provoking Russia to take appropriate action.

"We need to continue to improve our air and space defense systems. Now, as you know, the US ship has entered the Black Sea. We can look at it through binoculars or at the sight of the relevant defense systems", - Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting on defense issues in Sochi.

The United States says it is ready to hold talks in January on two draft security treaties published by Russia last week, although some have called the proposals "unacceptable". U.S. intelligence data shared by European allies last month showed that Russia may be planning to invade Ukraine next month with up to 175,000 troops.

"If Russia decides to invade Ukraine, it can do so in a relatively short time", - Rob Lee said, a researcher at the US Institute of Foreign Affairs.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia would do everything possible to make the West understand its position.

"I hope that, given the actions we are taking to ensure our defense capabilities, we will be taken seriously", - Lavrov said in an interview with RT TV on Wednesday.

It will be recalled that recently at his annual big press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that the West and NATO had promised not to expand to the East, but, as always, "inflated".

"The West still demands security from us, even though they came to our borders with missiles, not us to their borders. We can recall the event, how America and at whose expense received Texas (annexed this territory to Mexico). The West does not like to mention this, but we are successfully and often criticized for Crimea. So let the West be honest, and then we will be taught", - the Russian president said.