UK, EU Urge Evacuations from Ukraine as Biden Predicts Imminent Invasion

Ukrainians who were evacuated from Moscow, leave their train carriages after pulling in fr
Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images
Nathaniel Charles

Britain and the European Union have advised their citizens to leave Ukraine while commercial flights are still operating, in light of Psresidebt Joe Biden warning Russia could imminently invade the Eastern European nation.

The United States has suggested that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day now”, with President Biden warning that “things could get crazy very quickly,” with an estimated 130,000 Russian troops amassed at the border.

Consequently, the British government has updated its travel advice, warning British nationals against all travel to Ukraine. The government told British nationals in Ukraine to “leave now while commercial means are still available” – suggesting that there is an increased threat of military action in Ukraine due to “the build-up of Russian forces on Ukraine’s borders”.

Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has also stated that they have withdrawn “some Embassy staff and their dependants” from the British embassy in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the chairman of the Defence Select Committee Tobias Ellwood describing the situation as Britain’s “Cuban missile crisis moment”.

However, despite threatening Russia with economic sanctions, Britain seems reluctant to engage in a physical war with Russia if they invade Ukraine as they have announced they will be withdrawing all their military personnel from the nation.

The European Union has also warned citizens and staff to leave the nation, with the European Union’s Ukrainian Ambassador Matti Maasikas urging all non-essential staff “to leave Ukraine ASAP”.

However, Brussels has maintained that this is not an evacuation, with EU spokesman Peter Stano saying per the EU Observer on Friday: “We are not evacuating. For the time being, the non-essential staff has been given the opportunity to telework from outside the country”.

President Biden is set to speak to Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Saturday in an effort to de-escalate tensions over the region. The Democrat president, like his European allies, has advised Americans in Ukraine to “leave now”, as he suggested if American and Russian troops “start shooting at one another”, it could devolve into a “world war”.

Despite the West’s concerns, Putin is adamant Russia doesn’t want to invade Ukraine, yet, the Russian leader is unlikely to back down and pull his troops back from the Ukrainian border without receiving concessions from the West in order to prevent appearing weak domestically.

The Russians argue that NATO is in fact the provocatuer in the situation, claming that by stationing troops in nations that border Ukraine, the West has adopted an “aggressive” stance on the former Soviet state.

“Hysteria at the White House is revealing more than ever. The Anglo-Saxons need war. At any cost. Provocations, disinformation and threats are [their] favorite method of solving their own problems”, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

While Ukraine has expressed concerns, they have downplayed the threat of a Russian invasion, but as a precaution, they have begun conducting their own military training and drills including with their citizens.

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