The international community was outspoken in its denouncement of Russia's annexation of the souther portion of Ukraine known as Crimea. A subsequent vote by the Crimean people to join the Russian Federation followed, and Russian President Vladimir Putin gained the valuable Black Sea port city Sevastopol.
However, according to some officials, the Russian military may not be content to halt its actions with Crimea alone. According to U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russian forces have amassed on the Ukrainian border and could quickly mobilize to seize more territory from Ukraine or perhaps the neighboring nation of Moldova, Military.com reported.
Surveilling Moscow
Breedlove made the comments during a speech at the German Marshall Fund think tank event. While Ukraine is not a member of NATO, several adjacent states, such as Poland and Romania, have signed the bi-lateral defense treaty.
"The [Russian] force that is at the Ukrainian border now to the east is very, very sizable and very, very ready," Breedlove said at the conference, as quoted by Military.com.
While he did not state that Russia would march into Ukrainian territory again, Breedlove also mentioned that Russia may have set its sights on a traditionally Russian-speaking portion of Moldova known as Transdniestria.
"There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniestria if the decision was made to do that, and that is very worrisome," Breedlove said.
Russian officials have denied any accusations of a military buildup for territorial gains, insisting that any troop movements can be explained by simple exercises.
Foreign intervention
While some critics call for the U.S. military to intervene in Russia's continued military movements, President Barack Obama told NBC 7 San Diego that he would not authorize any such plan. Military action in the Ukraine is not on his agenda, Obama told the TV station, though he admitted that he would be utilizing all the economic and diplomatic tools at his disposal to deter Moscow from any further aggressive actions.
The U.S. has provided the Ukrainian military with 25,000 Meals, Ready to Eat, Military.com reported, but no other assistance to date. Some representatives from Congress have pushed to send small arms and communications equipment to U.S. allies in the region, but doing so could be seen as an act of equal aggression by Russian officials.