WASHINGTON (Transatlantic Today) – The United States issued a new warning on Friday, stating that a Russian invasion of Ukraine might start during the Olympics.
The US national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, told reporters at the White House that the US still couldn’t say if Russian President Vladimir Putin had decided to invade.
However, he stated that the situation has deteriorated to the point that Americans in Ukraine should leave immediately or within the next 24 to 48 hours.
President Joe Biden is scheduled to engage via telephone with President Putin, Sullivan told ABC News. The leaders last spoke on December 30.
According to Sullivan, Biden does not want to sacrifice the lives of American troops in order to save the remaining Americans.
According to Sullivan, the US is shrinking its “embassy footprint” in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.
Sullivan went on to outline what may happen in great detail, including a “rapid assault on Kyiv.”
Biden spoke with transatlantic leaders earlier Friday to plan the next steps as negotiations over Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine showed no signs of defusing the issue.
According to the White House, Biden discussed “diplomacy and deterrent cooperation” with the leaders of Germany, Canada, Italy, Romania, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, NATO, the European Council, and the European Commission.
The transatlantic call came as NATO issued a “dangerous moment” warning to Europe.
Over the last few weeks, European leaders have participated in intensive diplomacy with Ukraine and Russia in order to avert a conflict in eastern Europe. However, the conversations have so far failed to produce any visible progress.
Biden suggested on Monday that Americans in Ukraine should evacuate, and he emphasized that point again on Thursday.
Despite amassing over 100,000 soldiers on Russia’s border with Ukraine, senior US officials said they do not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin has made up his mind about invading Ukraine.
The United States and other Western countries have warned that if Russia invades, it would face severe economic implications. Russia has denied that it intends to do so.
Meanwhile, Russia and Belarus began ten days of joint drills in Belarus, north of Ukraine, on Thursday.
![Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva, Switzerland, on January 21, 2022. [State Department photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain]](https://transatlantictoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Secretary_Blinken_Meets_With_Russian_Foreign_Minister_Lavrov_in_Geneva_51833856514-100x100.jpg)
