U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be speaking with President Biden on Monday, with Johnson having said, “I’m going to be doing everything I can to help the diplomatic process. I’ll be talking to various leaders, including Joe Biden, very soon.” This news follows continued concern in both the U.S. and U.K. that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is looming.
According the U.K. foreign secretary, it is “very clear there could be an imminent invasion of Ukraine” as tensions between Ukraine and Russia increased over the weekend.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told reporters after chairing a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee that Russia could invade Ukraine “almost immediately,” and called for British citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible.
This echoed advice from Biden last week, who warned that the U.S. would not get citizens out who wish to flee the country in the event of a Russian invasion. “American citizens should leave now,” Biden said.
On Friday, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned Americans in Ukraine that the U.S. military will not evacuate Americans still in the country if Russia were to invade.
“We are in the window when an invasion could begin at any time should Vladimir Putin decide to order it. I will not comment on the details of our intelligence information, but I do want to be clear, it could begin during the Olympics despite a lot of speculation that it would only happen after the Olympics. As we’ve said before, we are ready either way,” Sullivan said.
The White House adviser did not say if direct U.S. military action would occur, and that the Biden administration would instead work with allies in Europe and elsewhere to put “severe economic sanctions” on Russia.
“[The joint response] would also include changes to NATO and American force posture along the eastern flank of NATO, and it would include continued support to Ukraine,” Sullivan added.
In no uncertain terms, Sullivan told Americans in Ukraine to leave as soon as possible:
We encourage all American citizens who remain in Ukraine to depart immediately. We want to be crystal clear on this point: Any American in Ukraine should leave as soon as possible and in any event in the next 24-48 hours. We obviously cannot predict the future. We don’t know exactly what is going to happen, but the risk is now high enough, the threat is now immediate enough that this is what prudence demands. If you stay, you are assuming risk with no guarantee that there will be any other opportunity to leave and no prospect of a U.S. military evacuation in the event of a Russian invasion. If a Russian attack on Ukraine proceeds, it is likely to begin with aerial bombing and missile attacks that could obviously kill civilians without regard to their nationality. A subsequent ground invasion would involve the onslaught of a massive force. With virtually no notice, communications to arrange a departure could be severed and commercial transit halted. No one would be able to count on air or rail or road departures once military action got under way. Now, again, I’m not standing here and saying what is going to happen or not happen, I am only standing here to say that the risk is now high enough and the threat is immediate enough that prudence demands that it is the time to leave now while commercial options and commercial rail and air service exists, while the roads are open. The president will not be putting the lives of our men and women in uniform at risk by sending them into a war zone to rescue people who could have left now but chose not to.
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.
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