The president of United States, Joe Bidenadvised US citizens residing in Ukraine that they leave “now” from that country in the framework of the tensions generated by the accumulation of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border.
“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 things could get crazy quickly,” he said. Biden in an interview with the presenter of the American network NBCLester Holt.
Faced with one of Holt’s questions about a possible operation by U.S to rescue Americans living in UkraineBiden responded that they do not contemplate any scenario, since it would be “a world war” at the moment in which “the Americans and Russia” start shooting “at each other”.
In a press conference at the end of January, two senior State Department officials assured that “the US government would not be in a position to evacuate US citizens in the event of a contingency.”
The same day, U.S ordered the departure of Ukraine of the diplomatic families from its embassy in the country in the face of “continued threat of military action by Russia,” adding that “non-essential personnel” could leave the country if they so wished, according to a January 23 statement.
They also informed citizens residing in the country that “the security situation, especially along the borders of Ukrainein Russian-occupied Crimea and Russian-controlled Donetsk, is unpredictable and could deteriorate at any moment,” so they were advised to leave the country on commercial flights or other means of transportation.
According to the newspaper New York Timesa senior US official confirmed that military and intelligence commanders of the Administration Biden estimated that the Russian Army would have mustered 70% of the forces it would need for a full invasion of Ukraine.
This information was subsequently commented on by the ambassador of U.S Before the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, before another question from the press about the deployment of troops by Russia and a possible “fall” of Kiev in about 48 hours.
“We are still working to dissuade the Russians from making the wrong decision to choose confrontation,” Thomas-Greenfield said then, adding that the United States “continues to work on a diplomatic solution.”
In this Thursday’s interview with the NBC, Biden has settled the issue by saying that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin“is is smart enough not to, in fact, do anything that has a negative impact on American citizens.”
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