KYIV, Feb 14 - Russia moved ahead with its massive military buildup near Ukraine, as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz began shuttling between the two nations seeking to stave off a conflict, and Moscow left the door open for talks, The Wall Street Journal reported.

U.S. officials said that the Russian forces near Ukraine had grown to 105 battalion tactical groups, up from 83 groups earlier this month. Russia has also moved about 500 combat aircraft within range of Ukraine and has 40 combat ships in the Black Sea, said U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports.

In a carefully choreographed scene broadcast on Russian television, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told President Vladimir Putin that the West was ignoring the Kremlin’s core security demands, but that Moscow should continue negotiations.

“It seems to me that our possibilities are far from exhausted,” Lavrov told the Russian leader. “I would propose continuing and intensifying them.”

In an address posted Monday night Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for calm.

“Today they are scaring Ukraine with a great war and, once again, are setting the date for a military invasion, but our state is stronger than ever,” he said.

U.S. intelligence officials earlier named Wednesday as a likely start of the invasion.

Scholz met with Zelensky Monday in Kyiv and is expected to meet Putin in Moscow on Tuesday.

“There are no sensible reasons for such a military deployment,” Scholz said at a joint press conference with the Ukrainian leader. “The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine is not negotiable. We expect Russia to take clear steps to resolve the situation.”

On Monday, the U.S. closed its embassy in the Ukrainian capital and relocated it to Lviv near the Polish border, warning that major Russian military action against Ukraine could come at any time.

Some military analysts said Putin’s show of force is possibly intended to damage the Ukrainian economy, destabilize Zelensky’s government and spur Western concessions without carrying out an attack and risking economic sanctions.

Others, however, cautioned that Russia could attack on short notice. Western intelligence officials said Russia now has some 60% of its ground combat power and more than half of its air power near Ukraine.

In the event of a major attack, Russia’s likely military strategy would be to move toward Kyiv from the north and demand that the Ukrainian government be replaced while cutting off eastern Ukraine, where the country’s best forces are deployed, Western intelligence officials say. These intelligence officials estimated that, while the window for diplomacy is shutting fast, Mr. Putin hasn’t yet made a final decision on whether to invade, and that Russian troops could remain on the Ukrainian border for a considerable time.

Battalion tactical groups generally number about 700 to 800 troops each and comprise professional soldiers instead of conscripts. Built around mechanized infantry or tank battalions, they are reinforced with artillery, air defenses, electronic warfare and other units and are deemed to be particularly useful for fast paced operations on open terrain.

Adding to Washington’s concerns, the Russian military has moved some rocket batteries close to the border and has deployed more Iskander surface-to-surface missile batteries, the U.S. officials said. (om/ez)