The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has been clear with US citizens living in Ukraine: “You have to leave now.” In an interview on ‘NBC News’, Biden rules out sending US troops to help citizens in Ukraine because he would mean “a world war“.
“It’s not like we’re dealing with a terrorist organization. We’re dealing with one of the largest militaries in the world. It’s a very different situation, and the situation could get crazy fast“, explains Biden.
In that sense, the State Department also ruled out an evacuation in the event of “Russian military action anywhere in Ukraine,” something that “would seriously affect” to the actions of the consulate.
Biden adds that if Putin is “dumb enough enough to go into the Ukraine, he’s smart enough not to do anything that will have a negative impact on American citizens.”
Asked by the interviewer if he has even said those words to Biden, the US president replied: “I didn’t have to tell him. I have talked about it. He knows“.
Blinken: the invasion of Russia can happen “at any time”
The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkenwarned this Friday in Australia that Russia could invade Ukraine “at any time, even during the Olympics“, which are held until the next day 20 in Beijing.
Blinken, who spoke these words in Melbourne after meeting with his counterparts from India, Japan and Australia, within the framework of the defense alliance of the Quad, stressed that all American citizens who are on Ukrainian soil “should leave now”, at the risk of an armed conflict breaking out.
“There are signs of a Russian escalation. We are in a window the invasion can start at any time“, pointed out the head of US diplomacy, insisting that Washington and allied countries are “strongly” committed to diplomacy and dialogue.
However, Blinken warned that they are also working on deterrence and defense measures and that Moscow will face “massive consequences” if it decides to invade Ukraine, including economic sanctions, export limitations, and an increase in Ukraine’s and NATO’s military capabilities.
Likewise, the senior Washington official stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine in defending its “territorial integrity” and “sovereignty.” In this sense, he warned that the change of border in Ukraine, with the threat of some 100,000 Russian soldiers deployed alongside it and the military maneuvers in Belarus, could set a dangerous precedent in other regions such as the Indo-Pacific.
Blinken participated this Friday in a meeting of the defense alliance Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) together with the foreign ministers of Japan, Yoshimasa Hayashi; that of India, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, as well as the head of Australian diplomacy, Marise Payne.
Members of the quadrilateral alliance, created in 2007 but dormant for years until Biden decided to resurrect it a year ago, also addressed issues such as the international “coercion” of “autocratic” governments in the region, not to mention China, as well as climate change and vaccines against COVID-19, among other issues.
Source: Lasexta
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
