As the diplomatic ballet continues, Joe Biden takes the lead. The US president on Thursday called on US citizens to leave Ukraine “now” due to the increased risk of a Russian invasion, warning that the situation might “get out of control quickly”.
“Things might quickly get carried away,” warned the American president in an interview with the NBC channel. He repeated that he would not send soldiers on the ground in Ukraine, even to evacuate Americans in the event of a Russian invasion, because that might start “a world war”. “When Americans and Russians start shooting at each other, we’re in a very different world,” he said. “American citizens should leave, they should leave now. We are dealing with one of the largest armies in the world,” pleaded the president in reference to the Russian army.
Canada makes similar recommendations. “If you are in Ukraine, you should leave,” the Foreign Ministry says on its website. “Russian military action in Ukraine might disrupt travel and services across the country. Flights might be disrupted or canceled,” the ministry said, concluding: “Be prepared to take shelter.”
The Kremlin is accused of preparing a new military operation once morest Ukraine, following the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Accusations rejected by Russia, which claims to just want to ensure its security in the face of hostility from Kiev and NATO .
Strategic bombers
US B-52 strategic bombers arrived in the UK on Thursday to take part in a “long-planned” exercise with NATO allies, the US Air Force said. The US Navy said on Thursday that four US destroyers left the United States last month to take part in a naval exercise in the Sixth Fleet area, which includes the Mediterranean. “They will participate in a series of naval activities with the Sixth Fleet and our NATO allies”, assures the American army.
These announcements come at a time when, in addition to some 100,000 men massed on the Ukrainian border, the Russian and Belarusian armies are carrying out major maneuvers in Belarus, a former Soviet republic bordering Ukraine, which has remained an ally of Moscow. The number of soldiers and equipment participating in these exercises has not been officially provided, but Westerners claim that 30,000 Russian soldiers have been deployed in Belarus in this context.
Maneuvers in the Black Sea
Russia also announced on Thursday the arrival in Crimea of six warships for upcoming maneuvers in the Black Sea, which borders southern Ukraine. The deployment of these soldiers was immediately qualified by the Ukrainian presidency as a means of “psychological pressure” used by Moscow.
Amid a war of nerves and intensified diplomatic efforts in recent weeks, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned Russia not to underestimate the “unity” and “determination” of Europeans. .
Affirming that he wanted to prevent “unfortunate incidents” from occurring when these military exercises began, the American Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley, had a telephone conversation with his Belarusian counterpart, General Viktor Goulevitch. Russia’s annexation of Crimea was followed by the outbreak of a conflict in eastern Ukraine between Kiev forces and Moscow-backed separatists, a war that has claimed more than 14,000 lives in eight years, according to a latest UN report.