Russia sent warships to the Black Sea on Tuesday, seemingly to bolster its forces near Ukraine. The move raised alarms with NATO and the U.S. and increased concerns over a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian Navy said that the contingent of warships sailing towards the Black Sea, consisting of six huge landing craft, is being dispatched for a military exercise with Belarus. In the past, Russia had claimed to be conducting exercises before launching an invasion.

Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy leader, told reporters that the development shows that the situation has not yet been solved. However, Borrell speculated that Russia was unlikely to commit its resources to a full-fledged war.

Landing ships in Russia are primarily used to offload troops, vehicles, and cargo onto land. In 2008, several of them took part in Russia's invasion of Georgia. The Russian Navy persisted that the vessels were being used for an exercise. Once in the Black Sea, the ships will be in the range of Ukraine's southern coast.

Reports of the warship sailing towards the Black Sea came as French President Emmanuel Macron visited Ukraine and Russia to avert a possible war. Russian officials gave little sign that Macron's diplomacy had convinced them to change their plans.

After holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and later with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, Macron said they are now working on meeting Russia's demands of reworking the region's security architecture. Macron added that he knows that it will be impossible to resolve the crisis with just a few hours of talks. He then assured everyone that a practical solution could be reached.

U.S. officials said they would be looking closely at the next two weeks with increased concern as Russia is scheduled to conduct military exercises near Ukraine's border. Officials said the exercises could be used as cover for a sudden invasion of Ukraine, which could happen after the conclusion of the Olympic Games in China.

European intelligence services have reportedly been tracking Russia's redirecting of military equipment, including ammunition, from positions in western Russia to Belarus by rail. In recent days, commercial satellite images have revealed the deployment of missiles, rocket launchers, and attack planes in Belarus at three locations near the Ukrainian border.

Officials in the United States and Europe are concerned that Russia may launch an attack on Kyiv by deploying soldiers south to Zhytomyr, Ukraine, and then advancing east toward the capital. A bigger army may move westward from Russian territory at the same time.