Americans in Ukaine Urged to Leave Immediately by the White House
National security adviser Jake Sullivan warned Friday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine may want to come earlier than the realization of the Winter Olympics on Feb. 20, however he did not say whether or not U.S. officials had determined whether or not Russian President Vladimir Putin had made a final decision on a path of action.
“As we’ve said before, we’re in the window whilst an invasion may want to start at any time, should Vladimir Putin determine to order it,” Sullivan stated at a White House news briefing. “I will now no longer touch upon the details of our intelligence information, however I do need to be clear: It could begin in the course of the Olympics, in spite of quite a few speculation that it would only manifest after the Olympics.”
These warnings additionally come as diplomatic efforts to discourage Putin appear to have stalled out, though President Joe Biden and the Russian leader will hold a call on Saturday morning.
While Sullivan and other Biden aides wouldn’t publicly verify a particular date on which Putin would possibly act, 3 official sources in Washington and Europe pointed to Feb. 16 as a likely date for the invasion, in line with intelligence shared with them through the U.S.
The Pentagon additionally ordered 3,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Infantry Brigade Combat Team to Poland, a senior DoD official informed POLITICO. This brings the whole range of U.S. troops despatched to Poland and Germany to 5,000, including to the 2,000 troops deployed there last week.
Speaking from the White House podium, Sullivan advised Americans still in Ukraine to leave the country in the subsequent days, pronouncing Biden might now no longer ship troops into harm’s way to evacuate U.S. citizens who ought to have left the Eastern European country when they had the chance.
“We want to be crystal clear on this point: Any American in Ukraine need to depart as quickly as possible and, in any occasion, withinside the next 24 to 48 hours,” Sullivan stated, adding: “If you stay, you are assuming risk with no guarantee that there will be any other possibility to leave and no prospect of a U.S. military evacuation withinside the occasion of a Russian invasion.”
