What they’re saying: “Yesterday, the Russian government said it was withdrawing troops from Ukraine. They received a lot of attention for that claim, both here and around the world. But we now know it was false,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

“In fact, we have now confirmed that in the last several days, Russia has increased its troop presence along the Ukrainian border by as many 7,000 troops with some arriving as recently as today.”

“The Russians have also said in recent days that they are prepared to engage in diplomacy, as we and our allies have repeatedly offered. But every indication we have now is they mean only to publicly offer to talk and make claims about de-escalation while privately mobilizing for war.”