Since February 10 the Ukrainian army will conduct exercises with new weapons recently supplied by NATO countries, the Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov stated.

Mr. Reznikov confirmed that the exercises in Ukraine will be "mirror" the major Russian-Belarusian exercises scheduled at same time in Belarussia. According to the Ukrainian minister, 11 Russian battalion-tactical groups have arrived in Belarussia.

The Ukrainian exercises will take place mainly in the northern regions of the contry, in close proximity to the borders with Belarus and Russia, as well as in Odessa port.

According to Mr. Reznikov, the Bayraktar drones supplied from Turkey, American Javelin anti-tank missiles and anti-tank weapons supplied from Britain will be tested.

The defense minister also said that Ukraine "already has more weapons than potential targets" and thanked the US and its allies for boosting arms supplies in recent weeks amid a Russian build-up near the border with Ukraine.

Mr. Reznikov stated that about 119,000 Russian troops are now concentrated near the borders, some of them in Belarussia.

At the same time, the minister stressed that Russia has not yet formed strike groups, and therefore an invasion of Ukraine in the coming days is unlikely.

Earlier, the National Security Adviser to the President of the United States argued that now "an invasion is possible at any moment." Reuters, citing unnamed US officials, reported that Russia had concentrated about 70 percent of the forces needed for the invasion near the borders.