Washington, D.C.US President Joe Biden will talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, after the US warning that a Russian invasion of Ukraine might begin within days.
The US dramatically increased its warnings about Ukraine on Friday, saying that a Russian invasion could start in a few days and that people could be trapped in airstrikes. It also told people who live in the US to leave within 48 hours.
An assault by Russia’s more than 100,000 soldiers massed near Ukraine “may happen any day now,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told Washington reporters.
Sullivan said that the Kremlin might start a conflict while the Beijing Olympics were still going on in a country that is a strong ally of Russia. This might happen before the Games finished on February 20.
Sullivan said that the idea of a strike is “a very, very real possibility.”
While Sullivan stressed that it was unclear if Russian President Vladimir Putin had made a choice, stating that “we cannot forecast the precise conclusion,” Sullivan made clear that the US was ready for the worst, including a “rapid attack” on the capital, Kyiv.
“If Russia launches an assault on Ukraine, it is likely to begin with aerial bombardment and missile strikes that would undoubtedly murder people,” he warned. “Any American in Ukraine should flee immediately, preferably within the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Sullivan spoke immediately after President Joe Biden and six European leaders, including NATO and European Union leaders, met to discuss the biggest crisis between the West and Russia since the Cold War’s conclusion.
According to a US source, Biden will talk with Putin on Saturday, while the French government said that President Emmanuel Macron will also chat with Putin on Saturday.
UN Ambassadors and other diplomats from a number of other countries have been forced to leave Ukraine, as oil prices rose and the US stock market went down.
Cohesion in the West and NATO
Sullivan said that Russia is under a lot of Western sanctions. He said that NATO, which Putin wants to get rid of, is now “more unified, more purposeful, and more active than at any point in recent memory.”
The Pentagon confirmed the addition of 3,000 soldiers to its partner, Poland.
Antony Blinken told Dmytro Kuleba in a phone call that “the United States will always stand up for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the State Department said.
Following a previous group phone discussion between US and European leaders, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokesperson said that “the objective is to avert a European war.” However, if Russia doesn’t back down, “the allies are ready to collectively punish Russia with quick and severe penalties.”
EU leader Ursula von der Leyen said the penalties would target the banking and energy sectors.
Sullivan talked via video chat with der Leyen’s chief of staff, Bjoern Seibert, on Friday to plan “the specifics of a possible transatlantic response, including financial sanctions and export restrictions,” the White House said.
Russia encircles Ukraine.
Russia’s naval forces and infantry, which include units from throughout the large nation, have encircled Ukraine on three sides: the south, east, and north.
Russia, which denies any intention to attack Ukraine, already controls the Crimean peninsula, taken in 2014, and backs separatist troops in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas area.
The Kremlin says its goal is to get NATO to never admit Ukraine and to leave countries in eastern Europe that are already members. This would make Europe into Cold War-style zones of influence.The United States and its European allies say that NATO is not a threat to Russia.
Russia started large-scale military exercises with its ally Belarus on Friday, which is just north of Kyiv and also has a border with the European Union. This has caused more tensions.
Friday, the Russian defence ministry said they were also having military exercises near Ukraine’s border in the Black Sea.
According to the chief of Norway’s military intelligence agency, Russia is operationally prepared to launch a broad spectrum of military actions in Ukraine and only needs the Kremlin to make the decision.
The top US general and his Russian counterpart spoke by phone Friday, the Pentagon said, without providing specifics of their conversation.
Additionally, the European Union said that non-essential personnel should leave Ukraine, while Israel stated that ambassadors’ families were being evacuated. Norway, like the United Kingdom, has asked its citizens to leave.
Diplomacy through the shuttle
The mounting worry comes despite European leaders’ attempts at shuttle diplomacy.
Scholz is slated to pay a visit to both Moscow and Kyiv earlier this week, and Macron is slated to pay a visit to both cities in the coming days. Scholz will also meet with Putin in person for the first time in Moscow.
Ben Wallace, the British defence secretary, met with Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, in Moscow on Friday for some very interesting talks.
He was joined by Chief of Defense Staff Tony Radakin of the United Kingdom, and the two will also meet with Russia’s senior army general, Valery Gerasimov.
