The US security adviser warns that Russian forces would be ready at any time – but does not say that such an attack has already been decided.
(Photo: dpa)
Brussels The situation is dramatic, a war in Europe is becoming more likely: On Friday, the US government urgently warned of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine. “Russia could very quickly decide to launch major military action against Ukraine,” Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, said Friday night at the White House.
Sullivan urged US citizens to leave Ukraine within the next 48 hours. “Now is the time to go,” he said. “We are in a window of opportunity where an invasion could begin at any time.”
According to the US government, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made all the necessary military preparations. The attack could come before the end of the Winter Olympics on February 20.
Ukraine is now surrounded on three sides by Russian troops. The ring stretches from Belarus in the north, along the Russian-Ukrainian border in the east to the Crimean peninsula in the south.
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Sullivan countered the impression that the US government believed a Russian attack was already a done deal. “We are not saying that President Putin has made a final decision,” he stressed.
>>> All current developments on the Ukraine crisis can be found in our news blog.
However, should Putin issue the order, there would be virtually no advance warning. Moscow has massed more than 100,000 soldiers in the border area, along with tanks, guns and rocket batteries.
According to Sullivan, it is unclear what the goal of a Russian offensive would be. There are several possibilities, including a storming of the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
In recent weeks, European security circles have already suspected that the Kremlin is aiming for a coup in Ukraine – and that Putin wants to replace the democratically elected government of Volodymyr Zelensky, which is open to the West, with a pro-Russian puppet regime.
Biden speaks to European allies
The USA is coordinating closely with the Europeans in the crisis. In the afternoon, Joe Biden called a teleconference with his most important European allies, and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also took part.
The German government then spoke of a “very, very serious security situation”. It is now a question of “preventing a war in Europe”.
More on the Ukraine crisis:
The NATO ambassadors also came together in Brussels on Friday evening for an extraordinary meeting. The first European countries followed the example of the USA and called on their compatriots to leave Ukraine – including Denmark and Great Britain.
Should Russia invade Ukraine, the EU and the US want to react with tough sanctions. In a statement, the EU Commission confirmed “that all options are on the table and that the sanctions would affect the financial and energy sectors as well as the export of high-tech products”.
Commission chief von der Leyen did not personally rule out sanctions against Putin just a week ago in an interview with the Handelsblatt. At the same time, the EU is preparing for Russia to cut off supplies of natural gas to Europe. An “additional natural gas supply” should be ensured with partners in contact, the commission said.
More: “Make the Russian economy even more fragile” – EU wants to stop Moscow with capital freezes and tech embargo