White House says Putin’s claims that he is pulling back troops from Ukraine are FALSE

White House says Putin’s claims that he is pulling back troops from Ukraine are FALSE, and that Russia has sent 7000 more soldiers to the border with some arriving TODAY as Moscow ‘mobilizes for war’

• A senior administration official Wednesday said Russia was talking peace but privately preparing for war
• Instead of withdrawing troops, Moscow had sent another 7000 to the border with Ukraine, he said 
• ‘We continue to see critical units moving toward the border,’ said Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier
• President Biden said Tuesday that Russia’s had massed 150,000 troops at the border 
• Sergei Lavrov has warned of ‘retaliation’ against the UK if it goes ahead with threats of sanctions over Ukraine Lavrov accused West of ‘hysteria’ over invasion, in first back-and-forth after Putin sad he was open to talks 
• NATO had earlier warned that Russia isn’t withdrawing forces from Ukraine and is merely repositioning troops
• UK defense secretary Ben Wallace said troops remain at high level of readiness and may remain so for ‘weeks’