INTERNATIONAL: Civilian employees of essential services in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv took part in military training on Tuesday ,January 25, as Russia intensified its military build-up near the border.

The exercises were lead by former Ukrainian paratroopers and veterans, in partnership with Lviv's city government. Authorities have said the training sessions would be held once a week at the private training ground outside Lviv.

"Drills are important because we need the reserve for the regular army and for the territorial defence units," war veteran and sniper instructor, Volodymyr has said. Lviv's mayor Andriy Sadovyi, who was at the training session, has said most Ukrainians had done mandatory military service but many people do not have combat experience. "They have to be taught," Sadovyi has said. "We have to be ready to protect our country and our land."

Russia has staged new military drills on land and on the Black Sea on Wednesday (January 26) and moved more paratroopers and fighter jets to Belarus, north of Ukraine, for what it describes as joint exercises there next month.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said Moscow had not yet massed sufficient forces for a large-scale offensive, but that did not mean it could not do so later. Blinken said Americans in Ukraine should consider leaving.

A Russian military build-up within the reach of Ukraine has rattled the West in recent weeks, sparking fears Moscow may use military force to try to stop Ukraine from moving any closer to the West and NATO.

In a written response to Russia's demands delivered in person by its ambassador in Moscow, the U.S. on Wednesday repeated its commitment to upholding NATO's "open-door" policy while offering a "principled and pragmatic evaluation" of the Kremlin's concerns, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Russia has demanded NATO pull back troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar its neighbour Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from ever joining. Washington and its NATO allies reject that position but say they are ready to discuss other topics such as arms control and confidence-building measures.

^{PHOTO: LVIV CITY MAYOR AND EMPLOYEES OF ESSENTIAL CITY SERVICES ATTENDING A MILITARY TRAINING SESSION ORGANISED BY UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES VETERANS/ SOUNDBITES FROM LVIV MAYOR, CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE AND SNIPER INSTRUCTOR}