US President Joe Biden told NATO and EU leaders tonight (Friday) that Washington believes Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine, which could happen in the coming days, diplomatic sources told the Guardian newspaper.
According to the report, Biden turned to his allies to discuss the latest information on Russia's military bases and Putin's intentions.
At the same time, U.S. National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan said tonight that U.S. intelligence has identified signs that Russia may be advancing toward an invasion that would include new forces reaching the Ukrainian border. Slavin called on Americans staying in Ukraine to leave.
Following this, the US Secretary of State, the European Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the EU and also Israel, issued a warning against Russian invasion of Ukraine in the immediate term and called on its citizens to leave the country.
"We want to be clear on this point - every American in Ukraine should leave as soon as possible, and in any case in the next 48-24 hours," said White House National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan.
At the same time, the British Foreign Service called on its guests to leave as well "as long as commercial means are available".
An EU spokesman said: "For now, the non-essential team has been given the opportunity to leave the country. We continue to assess the situation as it develops in line with our duty of care towards our team and in close consultation and coordination with EU member states."
Earlier in the day, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said today that the Russian invasion of Ukraine "could begin at any moment."
The secretary clarified that the invasion could also take place during the Winter Olympics in China.
Experts believe that Beijing is putting pressure on Moscow to prevent war during the event.
"There are very worrying signs of escalation along the borders. We have also seen further arrival of Russian forces in the border area," the secretary of state said during a visit to Australia.
"We will continue to reduce our embassy staff in Kiev. We were very clear when we told our citizens to leave Ukraine immediately."
Following the worsening situation in Eastern Europe, the Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning and announced that members of the families of diplomats and emissaries would be evacuated.
The Foreign Ministry advised Israeli citizens residing in Ukraine to consider staying in the country and in any case to avoid approaching hotspots.
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