US warns of imminent Ukraine invasion as Biden summons allies to talks

The US has warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be launched within days as president Joe Biden summoned transatlantic leaders to a meeting to discuss the crisis and embassies stepped up warnings to leave the country.

Russia is ramping up its military capability along Ukraine’s border, sending additional troops and equipment to the region, and also started a large-scale military exercise in areas in Belarus.

“We continue to see very troubling signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border,” said Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state. “We’re in a window when an invasion could begin at any time. And to be clear, that includes during the Olympics,” he added, referring to the winter games in Beijing that conclude on February 20.

In a short statement the White House said Biden and counterparts, including the leaders of Germany, France and the UK, would be discussing “our shared concerns about Russia’s continued build-up of military forces around Ukraine and continued co-ordination on both diplomacy and deterrence”.

The new US warning follows a flurry of high-level diplomatic activity in an effort to defuse the crisis, led this week by French president Emmanuel Macron, who met Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart, in Moscow.

The UK urged its citizens to leave Ukraine and said it would withdraw some embassy staff. Japan, the Netherlands and Latvia advised nationals to leave as soon as possible. The US had already told its citizens to evacuate.

“American citizens should leave, should leave now,” Biden told NBC. “We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. Things could go crazy, quickly.”

In Ukraine, the government stepped up defence preparations. President Volodymyr Zelensky urged officials to support efforts to bring 1.5mn to 2mn civilians into a newly formed territorial defence force under military command.

“This is a reliable rear for a professional and well-equipped army, which together form the basis of our state, a strong state,” Zelensky said after meeting regional governors.

Valeriy Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces, said: “This is a force that can restrain the enemy and prevent them from thinking about setting foot on our land . . . the purpose of all this is to resist in every city, every village, on every street and in every house.”

In Moscow, Ben Wallace, UK defence secretary, described his meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian general staff, as “constructive and frank” as he urged the Kremlin to draw down its troop build-up on the Ukrainian border.

Wallace said Shoigu and Gerasimov had insisted that Russia had no plans to invade Ukraine, but said any de-escalation would be contingent on Russia’s next steps.

“It’s all about actions. Currently there are 130,000 troops stationed at readiness or exercising, plus warplanes and ships in the Black Sea, on the borders with Ukraine. That is an action that’s not normal. It’s beyond normal exercising. And therefore I think we will judge that statement on the evidence,” Wallace told reporters.

Russia’s defence ministry said Shoigu told Wallace that “Nato’s military presence near Russia’s borders and ramping up tensions around Ukraine”, including by supplying Kyiv with arms, were responsible for the escalation.

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