Jake Sullivan Issues Urgent Plea For Americans To Leave Ukraine in the Next 24 to 48 Hours: ‘The Threat is Now Immediate’
Russia could invade Ukraine before the Beijing Winter Olympics are over warned U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday.
As a result, the State Department issued a security alert Friday telling all Americans in Ukraine to leave the country immediately as the threat of invasion looms.
Biden National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reiterated that message during a press conference on Friday. Sullivan said he wants to be “crystal clear on this point. Any American in Ukraine should leave as soon as possible” telling Americans not to wait, but to leave in the “next 24 to 48 hours.”
“We cannot predict the future. We don’t know exactly what is going to happen, but the risk is now high enough and the threat is now immediate enough this is what prudence demands,” Sullivan continued.
“If you stay, you are assuming risk with no guarantee that there will be any other opportunity to leave and no prospect of a U.S. Military evacuation in the event of a Russian invasion. If a Russian attack on Ukraine proceeds, it is likely to begin with aerial bombing and missile attacks that could obviously kill civilians without regard to nationality,” Sullivan warned.
“Simply put, we continue to see very troubling signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border,” Blinken said earlier 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 Games end on Feb. 20.
PBS’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent Nick Schifrin reported on Friday, “The US believes Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine, and has communicated that decision to the Russian military, three Western and defense officials tell me.”
Sullivan was asked about the PBS report. He responded, that it “does not accurately capture what the U.S. Government’s view is today. Our view is that we do not believe he has made any kind of final decision or we don’t know that he has made any final decision and we have not communicated that to anybody.”
The US expects the invasion to begin next week, six US and Western officials tell me, as Secretary of State Antony @SecBlinken said last night.
— Nick Schifrin (@nickschifrin) February 11, 2022
US officials anticipate a horrific, bloody campaign that begins with two days or aerial bombardment and electronic warfare, followed by an invasion, with the possible goal of regime change.
— Nick Schifrin (@nickschifrin) February 11, 2022
