The United States does not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a decision about invading Ukraine, US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told a news conference on Friday.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said that Russia was massing even more troops near Ukraine and a Invasion could happen at any timeperhaps before the end of the Winter Olympics in China.
Even as he tried to convey an urgent message that an invasion could occur at any moment, Sullivan said he couldn’t “get inside Putin’s head”.
“I want to be very clear. We are not saying that a decision was made – that a final decision was made by President Putin. But we have a sufficient level of concern based on what we’re seeing in the region and what our intelligence analysts have picked up, we’re sending this clear message, and it remains a message that we’ve been sending for some time,” Sullivan said during a White House interview. .
“And it is, yes, it is an urgent message because we are in an urgent situation,” continued the adviser.
Sullivan expanded on his statement that Russia could launch an invasion of Ukraine “at any time”. He said there was a “very distinct possibility” that Russia would act militarily, but he could not identify when or how.
“I will not go into intelligence information, but if you look at the disposition of forces in Belarus and Russia across the Ukrainian border from the north, from the east, the Russians are in a position to be able to mount a major military action in the east. Ukraine at any time. And for that reason we believe it’s important for us to communicate to our allies and partners, the Ukrainians and the American citizens who are still there,” Sullivan said.
“Way to lessen tensions is for Russia to reduce troops”
The quickest way to ease tensions between Russia and Ukraine is for Russia to withdraw the troop buildup on the countries’ borders, said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
“Just one country has gathered more than 100,000 troops on the border of another country with all the capabilities and capabilities to conduct an invasion. That country is Russia. That country is not the United States,” Sullivan said in a White House interview.
“So the quickest way to lessen this situation for everyone involved would be for Russia to choose to decrease its mobilization of forces. The United States is responding to the active and sustained increase in military pressure on Ukraine, we are doing so in concert with allies and partners, and at the same time we have been extremely advanced in our willingness to engage in diplomacy to address mutual concerns. Russia, the Europeans and the United States when it comes to security in Europe,” he said.
Sullivan said he speaks “almost every day” with aides to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. President Joe Biden spoke directly with Zelensky.
Russia now has enough forces to invade Ukraine
Russia now has enough forces to carry out a major military operation against Ukraine and an attack aimed at capturing large parts of the country could begin “at any moment”, according to a White House national security adviser.
Sullivan reiterated that any Americans still in Ukraine must leave within the next 24 to 48 hours. He said a Russian invasion could start with an airstrike that would make departures difficult.
Sullivan said US intelligence believed Russian President Vladimir Putin could order an invasion before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing on Feb. possibility.
“We haven’t seen anything come to us that says a final decision has been made, that the order has been given,” he said.
But with 100,000 troops massed on the Ukrainian border, Sullivan said a Russian invasion could involve capturing large parts of Ukraine as well as major cities, including Kiev.
*With information from Jeff Mason and Steve Holland of Reuters
Source: CNN Brasil
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