The United States has warned that things are building now to a crescendo in the ongoing and escalating Ukraine-Russia crisis. Russian warships are massing off of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast while its ground forces are poised to strike from multiple directions.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in Kyiv today as part of an urgent diplomatic effort to prevent a Russian military invasion of Ukraine. Scholz’s arrival comes as Western officials fear the window for a diplomatic solution is closing.
It comes following a phone call between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend. The White House said the exchange resulted in no fundamental change in the dynamic.
The U.S. is now warning that the Russian invasion could be imminent. Publicly available satellite imagery shows a huge Russian military buildup around Ukraine, from the sea to the air to the ground. Russian naval vessels are armed with missiles, and the infantry, tank, and airborne regiments have the capability of striking from multiple directions.
Russia has repeatedly said it has no plans to invade Ukraine. However, the country continues to build its arsenal threatening its neighbor.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the Kremlin needs to explain its actions and fulfill its commitment to military transparency in order to de-escalate the crisis.
More and more countries are urging citizens to leave Ukraine. Embassies are being cleared out, including the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, which was ordered to whittle its staff level down to a “bare minimum.” The U.S., UK, and other countries have been pulling staff members from a monitoring mission under the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Western countries have been warning that Russia may stage an incident to try a false-flag attack.
Russia has demanded that Ukraine is never allowed to join NATO and that NATO forces be rolled back across Eastern Europe. These are demands that the U.S. and allied countries have said are nonstarters.
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