United States President Joe Biden on Thursday urged American residents who are currently in Ukraine to leave the country as soon as they can amid the so-called impending attack by Russia.
In an interview that was taped on Thursday, Biden said that U.S. citizens in Ukraine "should leave now." The Democrat was referring to Russia when he said that "things could go crazy quickly." Moscow has continued to amass thousands of troops at its border with Ukraine with Biden saying it was not a terrorist organization but one of the largest armies in the world.
Evacuating Ukraine
The U.S. president said that despite the threat to Ukraine, there was no situation that would force him to send American troops to evacuate U.S. citizens. He argued that such a move would only be done when a world war occurs and American and Russian troops start shooting at each other.
During the interview, Biden said that if Russian President Vladimir Putin was "foolish" enough to invade Ukraine, he was smart enough not to do anything that would negatively affect American citizens in the nation. White House officials have approved a plan for the roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in Poland to assist Americans who could potentially try to leave Ukraine in the event that Russia invades, as per CNN.
The situation comes as Russian troops conducted live-fire drills and have caused increased fears among people in Ukraine. Tensions between U.S. and Russian officials are at their highest since the Cold War era. American authorities estimate that there are roughly 130,000 Russian troops gathered along the border between Russia and Ukraine.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said that Russia's deployment of missiles, heavy armor, and machine-gun toting troops signified a "dangerous moment" for Europe. Western authorities have struggled to negotiate with Moscow. They tried to give Putin a chance to voice out his complaint regarding NATO's expansion into Eastern Europe.
Inquirer reported that furthermore, officials wanted to project their resolve in the face of what many called Russian escalation of an already tense situation. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Moscow should not make the mistake of underestimating their unity and determination as a partner in the EU and as an ally in NATO.
Russia's Demands
On Thursday, Russian and Ukrainian officials announced that they had failed to reach a breakthrough after a day of talks with French and German officials. The discussion aimed to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The situation also comes eight years after Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula, causing the latter's military to be locked in a war with Moscow-backed rebels in eastern areas. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was hoping that officials would find strong deterrence or patient diplomacy to address the issue.
Johnson also met with NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg in a joint news conference held in Brussels. The UK prime minister said that he did not believe Russia had made a decision on whether or not it was going to invade Ukraine, BBC reported.
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