White House says Russia could invade within the week

WASHINGTON » The White House said Friday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could come within the week, possibly within the next two days, even before the end of the Winter Olympics, and urged Americans to leave the country now.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States did not have definitive information that an invasion has been ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. But he said all the pieces were in place for a major military operation that could start “rapidly.”

“The risk is high enough and the threat is now immediate

“We are not saying that a decision has been taken by President Putin,” Sullivan said. “What we are saying is that we have a sufficient level of concern based on what we are seeing on the ground, and what our intelligence analysts have picked up, that we are sending this clear message.”

Also, the Pentagon is sending another 3,000 combat troops to Poland to join 1,700 who already are assembling there in a demonstration of American commitment to NATO allies worried at the prospect of Russia invading Ukraine, a senior defense official said Friday.

The additional soldiers will depart their post at Fort Bragg, N.C., over the fense official, who provided the information under ground rules set by the Pentagon. They are the remaining elements of an infantry brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division.

Their mission will be to train and provide deterrence but not to engage in combat in Ukraine.

‘Deaf and dumb’

Britain’s defense secretary, meanwhile, was visiting Moscow in another effort to ease tensions over a possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Ben Wallace’s trip came a day after British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss held frosty negotiations in Moscow to urge Russia to pull back over 100,000 troops versation between deaf and dumb.”

Russia says it has no plans to invade but wants the West to keep Ukraine and other former Soviet countries out of NATO. It also wants NATO to refrain from deploying weapons there, and to roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe, demands flatly rejected by the West.

Speaking at the start of his talks with Wallace, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu noted that “the military-political situation in Europe is growing increasingly tense, and it’s not our fault.”

He said that shipments of weapons to Ukraine by the U.S., Britain and other allies have contributed to the tensions, why they were sent and how long they will stay.

Speaking to reporters after the talks, Wallace said that the anti-tank missiles that Britain sent to Ukraine were defensive tactical weapons that do not pose a threat to any neighbor unless it invades.

He said British troops deployed to Ukraine to help train its military to use the British weapons and will leave “pretty soon” after they accomplish that mission.

Wallace described the talks as “constructive and frank” and noted his Russian counterpart’s assurances that Moscow has no intention to attack Ukraine. But he also emphasized that the concentration of Russian ing that about half of Russia’s land forces are concentrated around the border with Ukraine.

He reaffirmed that a Russian invasion would have “tragic consequences” and emphasized the need to maintain contacts between military forces to prevent incidents.

“What is incredibly important, especially at this time with over 100,000 troops at high readiness on the borders of another country, is that we do not get into a position of miscalculation or escalation,” Wallace said. He stressed that only through “the ability to talk to each other at times of concern can we pave the way for any de-escalation measures.”