Longstanding tensions between the two former Soviet states of Ukraine and Russia have come to a head in recently. Russian soldiers were ordered into the Crimean Peninsula due to a border dispute and now a buildup of Russian troops along the border makes war between the two countries inevitable.

   Russian troops including short-ranged ballistic missile systems, air-defense and multilaunched rocked systems stationed from as far east as Siberia have strangely been caught moving across the country to the border of Ukraine. Suspicion has further been raised as Russian Soldiers enter Belarus in what Moscow calls a “joint training operation,” but it is more evident that troops are going to be stationed along the norther border with Ukraine to swarm the country in a potential invasion. Placing Russian troops in Belarus also allows Russian troops to reach other potential targets in the area including Poland and the Baltic states.

   In addition, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that the Navy will conduct a series of exercises which will include more than 140 warships, 60 aircraft, 1,000 units of military equipment and 10,000 military personnel. With all the military personnel being funneled into the area around Ukraine, it does not take a genius to realize that Russia is probable planning to invade their neighbor, despite saying they do not have any plans to.

   In response to the impending war, Ukraine has amassed a fighting force of 100,000 soldiers to fortify the border in the event of an invasion. On top of that, leading forces on the world stage, such as the United States and the European Union, have warned Russian leader Vladimir Putin of harsh implications if they do decide to carry out an attack. Other nations in the area such as Estonia, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have been sending military equipment to reinforce Ukraine’s defense and President Biden also exclaimed during a white house news conference that he would help Ukraine out in these circumstances, but he never explicitly said how involved the United States would get in if war did break out. Regardless, lots of United States weapons, like anti-tank rockets, find their way to the Ukraine to fortify their border.

   With the situation unfolding so quickly, U.S. diplomats are now meeting with Russian diplomats in Geneva to discuss the issue. Negotiations have been very cold, and despite Russia explaining that they do not have any intentions to start a war with their neighbor to the west, they keep requesting that the country should not be allowed as a UN member. Russia has made it clear that despite the excuses for their odd behavior, they have made possibilities of a war between the two countries skyrocket.