United States President Joe Biden has revealed he’s sending troops to Europe “in the near term” as tensions with Russia ramp up.
"I'll be moving US troops to Eastern Europe in the NATO countries," he said.
"Not a lot,” he added.
It comes as Russia continues to encircle its neighbour Ukraine, citing "security concerns" and demanding that the country never be allowed to join NATO.
The US on Friday sent a rejection letter to that demand.
The hand-delivered response from Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister was swift and to the point.
"There is no positive reaction on the main issue in this document," said Sergey Lavrov.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is yet to respond, but in a phone call on Saturday complained to French President Emmanuel Macron that his country's concerns were not being listened to by the West.
Footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry, claiming to be drills, shows soldiers carrying out battle preparation by land, sea and air.
The US dismissed suggestions that Russia was only holding rehearsals.
"This is straight out of the Russian playbook, and they're not fooling us," said Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The US says it is still working to a path of peaceful, diplomatic negotiation - but is also prepared to enforce economic sanctions should Russia invade Ukraine.
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