The US unveiled the intelligence as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered to mediate talks between Russia and Ukraine and NATO warned that Moscow’s military buildup continues, with more troops and military equipment deployed to neighbouring Belarus than at any time in the last 30 years.

Erdogan, who has close but sometimes difficult ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Friday AEDT that Turkey was “prepared to undertake its part in order to end the crisis between two friendly nations that are its neighbours in the Black Sea”.

“I have stressed that we would be happy to host a summit meeting at a leadership level or technical level talks,” Erdogan said after about three hours of talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “Instead of fuelling the fire, we act with the logical aim of reducing the tensions.”

Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s northern and eastern borders, raising concern that Moscow might invade again, as it did in 2014. The troop presence and uncertainty have unnerved Ukrainians and hurt the country’s economy. Russian officials deny that an invasion is planned.

Erdogan underlined Turkey’s commitment to Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Turkey and Ukraine also signed eight agreements during the meeting, including a free trade pact, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.

Zelensky welcomed Erdogan’s offer and thanked him for his “firm and consistent” support.

The crisis has put Turkey in a fix, leaving it in a position where it has to balance its growing partnership with Ukraine with its difficult relations with Moscow.

Ankara, which has historic ties to Ukraine and ethnic bonds with its Crimean Tatar community, strongly opposed Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. Recently, it sold armed drones to Ukraine, which were used against pro-Russia separatists in the Donbas region, a move that angered Moscow.

At the same time, Turkey would be reluctant to joint in any sanctions against Russia. With a struggling economy, the country has pinned its hopes on tourism revenue, especially from visitors from Russia. It also relies on Russia for much of its natural gas needs.

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At NATO headquarters earlier, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that Russian troop numbers in Belarus are likely to climb to 30,000, with the backing of special forces, advanced fighter jets, Iskander short-range ballistic missiles and S-400 ground-to-air missile defence systems.

“Over the last days, we have seen a significant movement of Russian military forces into Belarus. This is the biggest Russian deployment there since the Cold War,” Stoltenberg told reporters.

Russia and China

The US State Department warned Russia on Thursday that a closer relationship between Moscow and Beijing would not make up for the consequences of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and only make the Russian economy more brittle.

State Department spokesman Ned Price also told a regular news briefing the United States has an array tools it can deploy if it sees foreign companies, including those in China, trying to evade US export control actions over Ukraine.

Price spoke after China’s Foreign Ministry said China and Russia coordinated their positions on Ukraine during a meeting between both countries’ foreign ministers in Beijing on Thursday.

“If Russia thinks that it will be in a position ... to mitigate some of those consequences, by a closer relationship with (China). That is not the case. It will actually make the Russian economy in many ways, more brittle,” he said.

“If you deny yourself the ability to transact with the West, to import with the West, from Europe, from the United States, you are going to significantly degrade your productive capacity and your innovative potential.”

Restrictions on Belarusians

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The United States on Thursday said it was imposing visa restrictions on several Belarusians, citing the repression of athletes abroad including the attempted forced repatriation of a sprinter at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya refused to board a flight back home last year when she was removed from the games against her will after publicly complaining about national team coaches.

She defected to Poland, saying she feared for her safety if she returned to Belarus.

Thursday’s move relates to “involvement in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activity” but the State Department statement did not detail who was being targeted with the new visa limits.

Last May a Ryanair plane was also forced to land last May in the Belarusian capital Minsk when controllers cited a bomb threat.

Once it was on the ground, a Belarusian dissident journalist on board the plane was arrested along with his female companion.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was in Minsk on Thursday, checking on preparations for major Russia-Belarus war games scheduled for February 10 to February 20. Shoigu met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Speaking about the drills, Lukashenko said the goal was “to reinforce the border with Ukraine.”

AP