LONDON: Russian President Vladimir Putin could drag out the Ukraine crisis for months in an attempt to challenge Western unity, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.

"There is currently no evidence the Russians are withdrawing from border regions near Ukraine," Truss wrote in The Daily Telegraph newspaper. "The Russian military build-up shows no signs of slowing."

Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent, UK's Truss says

"We must have no illusions that Russia could drag this out much longer in a brazen ploy to spend weeks more - if not months - subverting Ukraine and challenging Western unity," Truss said.