Russia will invade Ukraine without waiting for the end of the Beijing Olympics, said US President Joe Biden. According to him, the attack could happen on February 16. The European Union still "refuses to believe" in the possibility of an attack, writes Politico. U.S. President Joe Biden, during a conversation with the leaders of allied countries, stressed that Russia could allegedly attack Ukraine on February 16, Politico sources say. The invasion will be preceded by missile strikes and cyber attacks, writes .
One of the sources said that during a conference call of the leaders it was announced that cyber attacks were “imminent”, another source told the publication that the intelligence data was “concrete and alarming,” the material says.
Representatives of the European Union, NATO, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania took part in the online negotiations. At the same time, European partners expressed doubts about the possibility of military aggression. A UK official said they have a "different interpretation" of the intelligence. Two EU officials reacted with even greater skepticism, stressing that Europeans "still refuse to believe it."
“That would be such a mistake [President Vladimir] Putin made. War is costly,” Politico quotes one of them.
A spokesman for the Eastern European country said it was "difficult to say" how imminent an attack is. “The main idea is to be ready with sanctions. Coordination and unity are key,” he stressed.
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“There is no final decision”
On Friday, February 11, PBS journalist Nick Shifrin wrote that the invasion of Ukraine would begin next week. The German magazine Der Spiegel named a specific date - February 15th. Bloomberg sources said that Russia could attack Ukraine on February 15.Aide to the American President for National Security Jake Sullivan, commenting on the information about the dates of the attack, doubted that Moscow already had a precise plan. “Our perception is that we do not believe that [Russia] has made any final decision,” he said.
At the same time, Sullivan did not rule out the possibility of an attack on Ukraine already during the Olympics. In the event of a potential invasion, Russian troops would try to capture the country's major cities, including Kiev, he said. “I will not comment on the details of the intelligence we have, but I want to make it clear that it could start during the Olympics, despite many suggestions that it could only happen after the end of the Olympics,” the assistant concluded.
The Associated Press reported on Saturday that the US would soon announce an evacuation of embassy staff in Ukraine. This time, Washington is going to evacuate all the staff of the diplomatic mission. Earlier, the evacuation of non-essential personnel and family members of diplomats was announced. A small number of embassy employees, according to the AP, may remain in the country, but will be relocated to the West, to Ukraine's border with Poland.
According to a RIA Novosti source, Russian diplomats are also leaving Ukraine. “This, in particular, is evidenced by the difficulties encountered when making an appointment at the consulates and the embassy,” the source said.
H4 "Dust in the eye" / h4 in Moscow once again stated that rumors about the hypothetical invasion during the Olympics or immediately after it are "absolutely groundless". “The remarks of [US National Security Adviser] Jake Sullivan are in an alarmist tone. We see in such statements only the desire of the administration to maximize the degree of the propaganda campaign against our country, ”said Anatoly Antonov, Russian Ambassador to the United States.
The diplomat added that even observers in the United States "noted that the confidence of American citizens in such allegations has declined sharply."
“Washington just continues to show off, based on some intelligence, the details of which it does not provide,” Antonov concluded.
XXIV Winter Olympic Games opened in Beijing on February 4, 91 countries take part in them. So far, Russia is in ninth place in the medal standings. The closing of the Olympiad will take place on February 20.
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