US president Joe Biden on Friday urged Americans to leave Ukraine citing an imminent threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Biden was speaking to news agency NBC when he warned that things could go ‘crazy’ anytime in Ukraine. “American citizens should leave now. We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. It’s a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly,” Biden was quoted as saying.
Joe Biden also said that he would not send troops to Ukraine in case of a conflict. He also said that there was a scenario where he could send troops to rescue fleeing US citizens. “There’s not. That’s a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another. We’re in a very different world than we’ve ever been,” Biden further added.
Diplomacy failed to ease tensions as talks between Russia and Ukraine failed. The Germans, French and other officials were present during the talks and aimed to end the conflict between Ukraine and separatists in the eastern region backed by Russia but talks failed to yield results.
The last time US issued such a warning it was met with a critical response from its ally Ukraine and even some quarters of the European Union (EU) also criticised the alert. Ukraine, last month when the alert was issued, also accused the US of creating panic.
Russia-UK ties at an all-time low?
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and UK foreign secretary Liz Truss sparred publicly when Truss asked Lavrov to ensure that Russia desists from threatening Ukraine with its troops. Lavrov reiterated that the buildup is not an intimidation tactic and said that facts were ‘bouncing off’ the British delegation in Moscow.
Truss also made a gaffe when Lavrov asked her if she recognised Russia’s sovereignty over Rostov and Voronezh – the two regions where Russia’s troop buildup is heavily concentrated and wargames are being conducted – to which Truss said that the UK would never recognise them as Russian. Her ambassador corrected her, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to Russian news agency Kommersant. Truss later told another Russian news agency RBC that she mistakenly thought that Lavrov was referring to Ukrainian regions.
Meanwhile, UK prime minister Boris Johnson during a meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that it is possible that the UK will increase its military support towards Ukraine but did not specify if it would send troops to the nation. “It’s possible, I don’t want to rule this out, but at the moment we think the package is the right one. Will consider what more we can conceivably offer,” Johnson was quoted as saying by news agency BBC.
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