Ukraine

President Biden on Saturday warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that if Russia invaded Ukraine, the U.S. and its allies would "respond decisively and ...

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"We are not saying that a decision has been taken," Sullivan said, declining to get into intelligence details beyond that new Russian forces are arriving at the Ukrainian border. He spoke to reporters after President Biden spoke with trans-Atlantic leaders ...

This is in addition to some 3,000 U.S. troops the administration is dispatching to Poland and Romania and some 8,500 already on high alert to be deployed to Europe if needed. "But what we can say is that there's a credible prospect that a Russian military action would take place even before the end of the Olympics." The games in Beijing are slated to conclude Sunday, Feb. 20. "In the situation in Iraq, intelligence was used and deployed from this very podium to start a war. Meanwhile, a defense official confirmed with NPR that the Defense Department will send an additional 3,000 U.S. troops to Poland in the coming days. Sullivan said he could not predict how limited or expansive a Russian military invasion of Ukraine would be. However, the U.S. has been monitoring Russian troop deployments and the official said something was detected in recent days that sharply heightened concern that an attack is coming. The U.S. State Department has ordered almost all of the embassy staff in Kyiv to depart. In January, the department had ordered family members of embassy staff to leave Ukraine. Russian troops have yet to move toward Ukraine's borders and Russia has insisted they are only performing exercises. He spoke to reporters on Friday after President Biden spoke with trans-Atlantic leaders about the situation and potential response. "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," he said. The U.S. orders embassy staff in Ukraine to leave over fears of a Russian attack

In a phone call, US President Joe Biden again warned Russian leader Vladimir Putin of the costs of any invasion. For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr ...

A US defence official has been summoned by Moscow over the incident. Meanwhile, some 7,500km (4,660 miles) away on Russia's eastern side, the Russian defence ministry says it spotted a US Navy submarine inside its territorial waters. Not far to the north, across the border in Belarus, Russia's war games are now well under way. The sentiment was repeated by people of all age groups attending the demonstration. But he is ready, if necessary, to pack the family into the car and drive 300 miles to Poland. He loves Ukraine and can't quite believe it's come to this. The march was organised by a right-wing nationalist group called Gonor and anti-Zelensky far-right activist Sergiy Sternenko, but it attracted other people too. Tensions have steadily increased as Russia has continued to deploy troops along Ukraine's eastern border. President Zelensky said the country had to be ready for any eventuality. If you or someone else has additional 100% reliable information about the Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine... please share it with us." Canada is also moving its embassy staff to Lviv, near the border with Poland, Canadian media reported. Stuart McKenzie, who's lived in Kyiv for 28 years and runs a successful business, hopes to get his wife and two sons out on a flight. Non-essential staff have been ordered to leave the US Embassy in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, and consular services will be suspended from Sunday, although "a small consular presence" will remain in the western city of Lviv "to handle emergencies".

The United States has moved some US forces out of Ukraine and ordered the evacuation of most of its embassy staff on Saturday as fears mount that a Russian ...

The official asked if he read the most recent email from the State Department encouraging Americans to leave, according to Humerian. He told the official he had read it and he did not have plans to leave. And we've also been very clear that any American citizens who remain in Ukraine should leave now." Lee Humerian, an American living in Ukraine with his family and working as a missionary, told CNN that he got a call from the State Department Friday, asking if he had plans to leave the country. A final decision has not been taken by President Putin, but we have a sufficient level of concern based on what we're see on the ground and what our intelligence analysts have picked up that we're sending this clear message and it remains a message that we have now been sending for some time. The State Department is helping them leave if they want to. They have asked for help getting new passports or visas for non-American family members, the official said. "We fully respect their right to make their own choices, and, you know people have, there are many reasons why people might resist leaving, including if they're long-term residents of Ukraine." But the risk is now high enough and the threat is now immediate enough that this is what prudence demands." The soldiers are there to help Americans who may try to leave Ukraine. "If a Russian attack on Ukraine proceeds, it is likely to begin with aerial bombings and missile attacks that could obviously kill civilians without regard to their nationality. And now the best friend for enemies is panic in our country. "We obviously cannot predict the future, we don't know exactly what is going to happen.

Diplomats say President Biden's 13-month delay in sending an envoy to a top crisis spot is impossible to explain.

Mr. Biden only just last month nominated Jane Hartley, a Democratic Party donor and Carter administration aide, as his pick for ambassador to Britain. Her nomination is pending. While Senate Republicans, led by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, have stalled many of Mr. Biden’s nominees for months, the White House has yet to submit candidates to lead nearly 30 U.S. embassies. In a reminder that the position can get tangled in Ukraine’s contentious domestic politics, some Ukrainian officials encouraged Mr. Giuliani’s opposition to Ms. Yovanovitch because her focus on anti-corruption initiatives threatened their interests. Republicans might also use a confirmation hearing to dredge up the past business activities in Ukraine of Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter, although one Senate Republican official said he was aware of no plans to do so. It is possible the Ukrainians prefer to keep it that way. Mr. Trump denied doing anything improper and was acquitted in his Senate trial.) Administration officials have declined to discuss the source of the delay. Representatives of Ukraine’s foreign ministry and its embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to requests for comment. During a visit to Kyiv on Jan. 19, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said he “would anticipate that a nomination will be forthcoming very shortly.” “The Ukrainians are wondering, ‘Why is there no American ambassador here?’” In recent weeks, Ukrainian officials have repeatedly diverged from or contradicted key U.S. talking points. “The absence of not just a U.S. ambassador to Ukraine but even a nominee to be ambassador to Ukraine at a time of crisis is worrisome and regrettable,” said Mr. Rubin, who worked at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv in the 1990s.

Interior of a destroyed house in the vllage Sokolniki completely devastated by Ukrainian bombing during the Human Rights groups claim prisoners are being abused ...

Shylo fears what could become of her mother if Russia decides to invade, which U.S. officials believe would cause a massive humanitarian crisis. “We don’t understand the scope of violence and human rights abuses going on in this gray zone where the law does not exist at all. After she received a text from her mother saying that she was about to cross into the separatist-controlled areas, she went dark.