Joe Biden urges Americans to leave Ukraine ‘now’ as fears of Russian invasion mount
- Biden say he has no plans to send troops into Ukraine to rescue US citizens
- More than 100,000 Russian troops have massed along the Ukrainian border
Washington-Moscow tensions are at their highest since the Cold War, with some US estimates saying some 130,000 Russian soldiers are grouped in dozens of combat brigades near the border with Ukraine.
“American citizens should leave now,” Biden said in a pre-taped interview with NBC News.
“We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. It’s a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly.”
Biden reiterated that under no circumstances would he send US troops to Ukraine, even to rescue Americans in case of a Russian invasion.
“That’s a world war. When Americans and Russians start shooting one another, we’re in a very different world,” he said.
Biden’s remarks were released hours after Russia rolled its tanks across Belarus for live-fire drills that drew an ominous warning from Nato and added urgency to Western efforts to avert war on the continent.