State Department: Russian troops taking fighting positions

The US State Department said that more Russian troops, not fewer, are on the Ukraine border and they’re moving concerningly into fighting positions. However, they say there is still room for diplomacy unless they make the decision to go in.

The latest Ukrainian intelligence report shows no evidence of Russian withdrawal, the defense minister told Reuters and that the Russian and separatist forces near Ukraine’s borders are still total around 140,000 personnel, according to the Ukrainian minister.

Additionally, NATO’s Stoltenberg said that Russia’s failure to withdraw can be confirmed through commercial satellite imagery

Earlier, the Ukraine foreign minister said that Ukraine officially appealed to UN Security Council to discuss Russian moves towards recognizing so-called republics in eastern Ukraine.

Estonian foreign intelligence service chief says Russia is moving approximately 10 battle groups towards the area near Ukraine, where 100 groups already deployed. Their Foreign Intelligence Service Chief says Russia “likely” to launch a “limited” military attack against Ukraine, occupying chunks of territory.

Despite the chorus of concerning headlines, the US dollar is on the backfoot following less hawkish than expected Federal Open Market Committee minutes that has revived the bulls on Wall Street. DXY, an index that measures the greenback vs a basket of major rivals, has printed a fresh low for the day of 95.677.

This is the lowest level since Friday, 11 February. The S&P 500 is back to neutral and tinkering on the bullish territory above 4,470.