Blinken: Russia could invade Ukraine during the Olympics

'Simply put, we continue to see very troubling signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border,' Blinken said in Melbourne, Australia

Russia could invade Ukraine during the current Beijing Winter Olympics so Americans should leave the Eastern European country immediately, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday. Blinken did not detail the reasons behind the State Department’s latest security alert that calls on all American citizens to leave Ukraine. “Simply put, we continue to see very troubling signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border,” Blinken said in Melbourne, Australia.

“We’re in a window when an invasion could begin at any time and, to be clear, that includes during the Olympics,” Blinken added. The Olympic Games are scheduled to end on Feb. 20. Russia has amassed over 100,000 troops near Ukraine. It says it has no plans to invade but wants the West to keep Ukraine and other former Soviet countries out of NATO. The threat of war in Ukraine and a strengthened alliance between Russia and China were high on the agenda of a meeting in Canberra on Friday among Blinken and his counterparts from India, Japan and Australia. The four nations form the “Quad,” a bloc of Indo-Pacific democracies created to counter China’s growing regional influence.

UK defense secretary in Moscow

Britain’s defense secretary visited Moscow Friday for talks on easing tensions amid massive Russian war games near Ukraine. Ben Wallace’s trip comes a day after British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss held talks in Moscow, urging Russia to pull back troops near Ukraine and warning that attacking its neighbor would “have massive consequences and carry severe costs.” In an interview Thursday with NBC News, U.S. President Joe Biden repeated his warning that any Americans still in Ukraine should leave as soon as possible.

“It’s not like we’re dealing with a terrorist organization. We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. It’s a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly,” he said. Asked whether there were any scenarios that would prompt him to send U.S. troops to Ukraine to rescue Americans, the president said, “There’s not. That’s a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another.”

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