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Russia continues to send military forces to its border with Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Friday, reiterating that an attack could take place at any time — including during the ongoing Winter Olympics.
“Simply put, we continue to see very troubling signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border,” Blinken told reporters during a news conference in Melbourne following meetings with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan.
“And as we’ve said before, we’re in a window when an invasion could begin at any time. And to be clear, that includes during the Olympics,” Blinken added. “We’re continuing to draw down our embassy. We will continue that process. And we’ve also been very clear that any American citizens who remain in Ukraine should leave now.”
Hours before Blinken made his comments, President Biden issued a stark warning to expats in the Eastern European country.
“American citizens should leave now,” the president told NBC News anchor Lester Holt in an interview that was recorded Thursday and will air in full on Super Bowl Sunday.
“It’s not like we’re dealing with a terrorist organization,” he added. “We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. It’s a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly.”
When pressed about whether the US would send troops into Ukraine to evacuate Americans if the situation escalates, Biden made clear he would not.
“That’s world war, when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another,” he said.
Last month, the State Department ordered family members of diplomats to leave Ukraine and authorized non-emergency personnel and staff from the US Embassy to depart as well. Last week, the Department issued a similar order for the US Embassy in Belarus, which is hosting Russian forces for what Moscow describes as military exercises through Feb. 20, the same day the Beijing Winter Olympics wrap up.
On Thursday, the State Department updated its “Level 4” travel advisory to read: “Do not travel to Ukraine due to the increased threats of Russian military action and COVID-19; those in Ukraine should depart now via commercial or private means.”
Fears of an invasion by Russia have grown since the US and NATO declined Russian President Vladimir Putin’s request to block Ukraine from ever joining the Atlantic alliance.
“What’s at stake is not simply — as important as it is — Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence, but very basic principles that have, in a hard-fought way after two World Wars and a Cold War, undergirded security, peace and prosperity for countries around the world,” Blinken said Friday. “Principles like one country can’t simply change the borders of another by force; principles like one country can’t simply dictate to another its choices, its policies, with whom it will associate; principles like one country can’t exert a sphere of influence to subjugate its neighbors to its will.
“If we allow those principles to be challenged with impunity, even if it’s half a world away in Europe, that will have an impact here as well,” he added. “Others are watching. Others are looking to all of us to see how we respond. So that’s why it’s so important we have this solidarity, that we do everything is possible through diplomacy, to try and avert a conflict and prevent aggression, but equally be resolute if Russia renews its aggression.”
Recent weeks have seen a flurry of diplomatic activity on both sides of the Atlantic. French President Emmanuel Macron met with Putin in Moscow Monday, the same day that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met Biden in Washington. On Thursday, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss traded barbs with her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, ten days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson traveled to Kiev to boost Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Biden has threatened “severe” economic sanctions against Russia if it invades Ukraine. During a joint press conference with Scholz Monday, the president upped his threats by vowing to block operation of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which is poised to begin sending fuel directly to Germany from Russia rather than through Ukraine.
Russia has denied any intention to invade, and Ukraine – while conducting military drills – has urged Western nations against causing “panic” in the country.
The US estimates that Moscow has amassed up to 140,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders, while NATO has suggested up to 30,000 forces will take part in the Belarus exercise.
While US officials have repeatedly warned a Russian invasion could happen at any time, they have scrapped the line that an attack is “imminent”— saying it suggested that Putin has already made up his mind to invade.
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