British nationals have been urged to leave Ukraine immediately over concerns of a possible invasion by Russian forces.
The Foreign Office updated its advice on Friday evening to tell UK nationals to ‘leave now while commercial means are still available’.
The dire warning came after Boris Johnson voiced fears for the security of Europe during a call with world leaders including US President Joe Biden.
A Downing Street spokesman said the Prime Minister told his Nato allies ‘to make it absolutely clear that there will be a heavy package of economic sanctions ready to go’ should Vladimir Putin ‘make the devastating and destructive decision to invade Ukraine’.
They added: ‘He urged the leaders to work together to deliver economic and defensive support to Ukraine.
‘The leaders agreed that if President Putin deescalated, there was another way forward, and they pledged to redouble diplomatic efforts in the coming days.’
A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority, which is why we have updated our travel advice.
‘We urge British nationals in Ukraine to leave now via commercial means while they remain available.’
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace held talks with his Russian counterpart in Moscow earlier on Friday as diplomatic efforts continued.
He said Sergei Shoigu assured him the Kremlin was not planning to attack its southern neighbour.
But with 130,000 Russian troops massed along the borders and large-scale military exercises taking place in Belarus, he said they would judge such assurances by Moscow’s actions.
He told a news conference in the British embassy: ‘Currently there’s over 130,000 troops stationed at readiness or exercising – plus warplanes, plus ships into the Black Sea – on the borders of Ukraine and that is an action that is not normal.
‘It is beyond normal exercising therefore we will judge that statement on the evidence.’
Mr Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said there is the ‘credible prospect’ of an invasion of some sort taking place before the end of the Winter Olympics on February 20.
He said the Russians are in a position to ‘mount a major military operation in Ukraine any day now’, which could include a ‘rapid assault on the city of Kyiv’ or on other parts of the country.
Speaking from the White House, Mr Sullivan said: ‘It is likely a Russian attack on Ukraine would begin with aerial bombing, missile attacks and then a ground invasion of ‘a massive force’.
Warning US citizens to leave the country immediately, he 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 US military evacuation in the event of a Russian evasion.
‘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 their nationality.
‘A subsequent ground invasion would involve the onslaught of a massive force.
‘With virtually no notice, communications to arrange a departure could be severed and commercial transit halted.’
The national security adviser also warned there will be no military evacuation of US citizens if Russia invades.
He said: ‘The president will not be putting the lives of our men and women in uniform at risk by sending them into a war zone to rescue people who could have left now but chose not to.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
from News – Metro https://ift.tt/uiWYcoS
0 Comments