According to the United States, Russian troops are now ready to invade Ukraine. “That could happen at any time, if Putin chooses to do so,” top security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters today. He provided no evidence to support his claim.
Meanwhile, the White House and the Kremlin announced that Presidents Putin and Biden will hold a telephone conversation about the Ukraine crisis tomorrow. Moscow also dismisses the latest warnings from Washington about an imminent invasion as fake news.
‘Faster than expected’
Previously, the White House said Russians would likely hold off their raid until the Beijing Winter Games are over. But according to “latest intelligence from intelligence,” the invasion of Ukraine could happen sooner than expected, Sullivan said, possibly as early as a week or even a few days.
What is clear is that Putin has not yet made a final decision on it, according to Sullivan. But if the situation escalates, Russia will launch large-scale airstrikes, according to the US. According to the American intelligence services, a rapid ground offensive up to and including the capital Kiev is a realistic scenario.
Sullivan therefore echoed Biden’s earlier message that all Americans should leave Ukraine as soon as possible. More and more countries are calling on their citizens in Ukraine to leave.
Dutch travel advice unchanged
For the time being, the Netherlands sticks to the advice to leave the country if someone does not have to be in Ukraine strictly. The travel advice is unchanged.
The US is sending another 3,000 troops to Poland amid rising tensions. About 1,700 US military personnel are currently stationed there.
According to Russia, the US and NATO are trying to mislead the world. The Kremlin calls the allegations a diversion from the West’s aggressive stance. Russia has issued the ultimatum that NATO should not expand further east and that Ukraine should never join the military alliance. Brussels and Washington reject those demands.
Criticism of US claims
The US has not only recently been criticized by Russia for its alarmist claims about the heightened tensions in the Ukraine crisis. Ukrainian President Zelensky also said earlier that his country is not waiting for the war rhetoric from the US. And journalists point to the lack of concrete evidence for US intelligence allegations.
Security adviser Sullivan said today he was unable to provide details about his claims. On the one hand, this is understandable because the Americans do not want to be fooled by secret information from the intelligence services. But on the other hand, the US also has a history of inflated or inaccurate intelligence during crises, historian Pien van der Hoeven recently told Nieuwsuur.
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