By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – The United States has enough information and warnings about Russian military activity in Ukraine to cause “a lot concern”. Russian rhetoric seems increasingly strident and the U.S. top military officer stated late on Thursday.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Mark Milley declined to speculate on the options that the United States may consider in case of an invasion by Russia. Milley made some of the most detailed remarks about the crisis and stressed that Ukraine’s sovereignty is important to Washington as well as to NATO.

Milley, a pilot flying from Seoul to Washington stated: “There are significant national security interests for the United States as well as NATO member countries at stake here if an overt action of aggressive military action by the Russians into the nation state that is independent since 1991.”

According to Ukraine, Russia claims it has more than 90,000. These troops are located near the long-standing shared border. Moscow denies that Russia is planning an attack against its southern neighbour and defends its rights to send troops onto its territory, as it sees fit.

In 2014, the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea was annexed by the Russian government. The Kremlin then supported rebels against the Kyiv government in the eastern part of Ukraine. According to Kyiv, the conflict has already killed over 14,000 people and continues to simmer.

Experts are concerned that an unchallenged Russian invasion could lead to destabilizing effects far beyond Ukraine. This is at a time when there has been increasing concern about Chinese intentions toward Taiwan.

Milley refused to publicly estimate the Russian force near Ukraine’s number, however, he suggested that his worries went far beyond the mere numbers.

Milley stated that while Milley would not reveal what indicators and warnings we monitor from an intelligence perspective, he said they all track it. There’s plenty out there right now that could cause concern. And we will keep an eye on it. Russia and Ukraine share a centuries-old history. They were the largest republics in the Soviet Union up to 1991. Therefore, Moscow regards Ukraine’s desire to become NATO members as an insult and threat.

Moscow demanded legally binding security assurances from the West and guarantees that NATO would not accept Ukraine into its ranks or send missile systems to Russia since the start of the current crisis.

Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary-of State warned Moscow Thursday about “severe” consequences if Ukraine invades. His Russian counterpart was urged to negotiate a diplomatic resolution of the crisis.

Milley did not speculate on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would be supported by U.S. President Joe Biden withdrawing from Afghanistan. She said that “You’d need to ask Putin.” With the Taliban returning in power, America’s war of two decades ended with an August withdrawal.

Milley stated, “It would be an error for any country that draws a broad strategy conclusion based only on the U.S. withdraw from Afghanistan”

He gave examples from the past of U.S. presidents that ordered military action in other places while withdrawing troops. He stated that the United States was sometimes difficult to comprehend for foreign countries.