Serbia orders large quantities of food as Ukraine-Russia tensions mount, according to CNN affiliate

Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s border in recent weeks, according to US estimates, raising fears from Western and Ukrainian intelligence officials that an invasion could be imminent.

As frantic diplomatic efforts are made to avert war, analysts are warning that Russia’s military poses an immediate threat to Ukraine.

But if an invasion were to occur, it is not clear where it would begin. Russia has created pressure points on three sides of Ukraine — in Crimea to the south, on the Russian side of the two countries’ border and in Belarus to the north.

Here are the three fronts Ukraine and the West are watching, and the recent Russian movements detected in each.

Read the full story here.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a media availability in Ottawa, Ontario, on February 11.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the security concerns in eastern Europe, according to a statement. Canada also announced a temporary move of its embassy in Ukraine from Kyiv to Lviv, according to a news release.  

Trudeau shared his concerns on Saturday with Zelensky “about the continuing buildup of Russian military forces in and around Ukraine, as well as Russia’s ongoing aggression and destabilization activities,” according to a statement.

Trudeau told Zelensky that “any further military incursion” into Ukraine would have consequences for Russia, such as sanctions.  

Meanwhile, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced that the country is moving its embassy in Ukraine from Kyiv to Lviv due to “the continued deterioration of the security situation caused by the build up of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border,” a news release said.  

“We will resume operations at the embassy in Kyiv as soon as the security situation in Ukraine allows us to ensure the adequate delivery of services and guarantee the security of our staff,” Joly added. 

Israel has informed its citizens to leave Ukraine as fears mount of a possible Russian invasion.

The announcement comes one day after Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced it was withdrawing the families of its diplomats serving in Ukraine because it assessed the Russian army had assembled sufficient forces along the border to invade.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with senior ministers and officials Saturday to discuss potential evacuation preparations.

An estimated 10,000-15,000 Israelis are living in Ukraine, most either connected to the tech sector or studying at universities.

The ministry said its embassy in Kyiv would continue to operate at full strength, with extra staff coming in to support the expected increase in demand for consular services.

Israeli ministers have also been discussing the possibility of helping Ukraine’s wider Jewish community, which is estimated at between 150,000-200,000 in size.

Nachman Shai, the minister responsible for diaspora affairs, urged government colleagues to be ready to act.

“If Ukraine’s Jewish community is put in danger by the Russian conflict, we must offer immediate immigration, as well as support the communities on the ground,” he tweeted.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gestures during a joint press conference with French President following their meeting in Kyiv on February 8.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his government understands the risks from Russia and is working with international partners to resolve the conflict through diplomacy.

The Ukrainian government “is aware of the risks of escalation of the situation on the part of the Russian Federation, is preparing for any developments and is in constant consultation with international partners in order to resolve the conflict through political and diplomatic means,” he said while speaking to media in the southern region of Kherson near Crimea, where he had attended military drills.

Zelensky said his government “understand all the risks, as they receive information from various sources, including their own intelligence and intelligence agencies of partner countries.” 

“There can be surprises any time,” he continued. “We must rely on our own forces. We understand that such things can take place without warning. Therefore, the most important thing is that we are ready for everything.”

He added that negotiations are underway at the international level to prevent escalation.

“We work separately at the diplomatic level, we communicate daily with the leadership of different countries, leaders of different levels, because we believe that the diplomatic path is the only way to de-escalation and de-occupation,” Zelensky said.

Slovakia and Slovenia on Saturday advised their citizens not to travel to Ukraine.

The Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs told citizens not to travel to Ukraine “under any circumstance,” the ministry said Saturday on its website.

The Slovak ministry recommends to those currently in Ukraine to find an accommodation not located within or proximal to the self-governed regions — including parts of Luhansk Oblast and Donetsk Oblast, Crimea and Sevastopol — it said.

The Slovenian government also advised its citizens against traveling to Ukraine.

“We advise those Slovenian citizens who are temporarily in Ukraine to ensure a safe return,” the foreign ministry said Saturday on its website.

“All trips to the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as certain areas of the Donetsk region and the Luhansk region, are also discouraged,” it said.

The Slovenian Embassy in Kyiv “cannot provide consular assistance to Slovenian citizens who would find themselves in trouble in these regions,” it added.

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov attends a meeting in Moscow, Russia, in 2020.

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov described a phone call Saturday between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin as “balanced and businesslike,” but he said the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization had failed to address Russia’s main security concerns. 

Ushakov said the conversation, which ran just over an hour, “took place in an atmosphere of hysteria about the supposedly imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine by American officials, everyone knows this.”

Ushakov added: “The pressure around the topic of the invasion was carried out in a coordinated manner and the hysteria has reached its climax.”

According to Ushakov, Biden told Putin he was “committed to the diplomatic path and had laid out a range of considerations that he sees as addressing many of Russia’s concerns.”

But, Ushakov added, Putin said the West had ignored main Russia’s security concerns, saying the US and its allies had been “pumping up” Ukraine with new weaponry and encouraging provocations by Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region and in Crimea.

“The Russian side, of course, will carefully analyze the considerations expressed by Biden and will undoubtedly take them into account, but unfortunately these considerations do not affect the central, key elements of Russian initiatives about NATO expansion, about not deploying strike forces on Ukrainian territory, about the return of the [NATO] alliance to the state of 1997,” Ushakov said.

France has advised its citizens “against all travel” to Ukraine, the country’s foreign ministry said Saturday in a statement, joining a growing list of other nations that have updated their travel advice.

“In the context of the tensions created by the concentration of Russian troops on the borders of Ukraine, it is recommended to be extra vigilant,” the ministry said on its website. “Travel to the northern and eastern border areas of the country is strongly discouraged.”

“It is advised to postpone all travels to Ukraine,” the ministry said, adding that these recommendations will continue to be updated according to the information available.

French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday for more than an hour and a half.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić gives a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, on January 18.

Serbia’s authorities have ordered large quantities of food in light of the Ukraine-Russia crisis, President Aleksandar Vučić said on Friday, CNN’s affiliate N1 reported.

Speaking during a live debate on the pro-government TV Prva on Friday, Vučić said that authorities ordered 30 million kilograms of salt and a million kilograms each of peas and beans as well as 30 million kilograms of flour and powdered milk, N1 reported.

“At a time when the whole world is hysterically expecting something to happen between Russia and Ukraine, you cannot pretend that nothing is happening,” the Serbian president said.

Vučić also added that fuel supplies have not been secured yet.

Sweden on Saturday urged its citizens to leave Ukraine and advised against “all travel” to the country, joining a host of other countries updating their travel advice.

“Due to the serious and unpredictable security situation in Ukraine and its immediate area, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has today decided to advise against all travel to Ukraine and urges all Swedes who are in Ukraine to leave the country,” Foreign Minister Ann Linde said in a tweet.

On Friday, Denmark advised Danish nationals to leave Ukraine, in light of the “serious security situation” in and around the country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The ministry “is now raising the level of security in the travel guidance for Ukraine to red. Therefore, all travel to Ukraine is advised against, and all Danes in Ukraine are advised to leave the country,” it said.

The Danish embassy in Kyiv remains open and operational for now.

“It is still possible to leave Ukraine by regular air routes and by road and rail. It is not possible to say whether or when those opportunities may be curtailed, and Danes in Ukraine are therefore encouraged to leave the country,” the ministry said, adding that Danish authorities cannot guarantee assistance to Danes who choose to stay in Ukraine at a later date.

Biden administration officials on Saturday reiterated their calls for US companies to remain vigilant in the face of potential Russian hacking threats amid concern over Russia’s troop buildup near Ukraine’s border.

“While there are no specific credible threats to the US homeland at this time, we are mindful of the potential for Russia to consider escalating its destabilizing actions in ways that may affect our critical infrastructure,” US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly tweeted Saturday. 

“ALL organizations must adopt a heightened posture of vigilance,” Easterly wrote. “The time to act is NOW.”

Agencies across the US government have for months warned of the possibility that Russian cyber threats to Ukraine could have ripple effects around the world. US officials have also been wary of retaliatory Russian hacking operations in the event that Washington and its allies slap punishing sanctions on Moscow. 

The US preparations have included classified briefings for the financial sector and an overview of Russian cyber capabilities for energy companies, CNN has previously reported.

A hacking group with ties to a Russian government institute probed the networks of US electric utilities in December, but no known compromises have occurred, private sector analysts previously told CNN.

President Biden’s hourlong call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday morning was “professional and substantive,” a senior administration official said, but “there was no fundamental change in the dynamic that has been unfolding now for several weeks.” 

“The two presidents agreed that our teams will stay engaged in the days ahead,” the official told reporters after the call. “Russia may decide to proceed with military action anyway. Indeed, that is a distinct possibility.”

The call came one day after US national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned that Russia could be preparing to attack Ukraine before the end of the Beijing Olympics on Feb. 20 and told Americans in Ukraine that they should leave the country within 48 hours. The US has continued to reduce its diplomatic presence in Kyiv, the official said, echoing a State Department announcement this morning that more US diplomats will be moving out of the capital city. 

“We remain committed to keeping the prospect of de-escalation through diplomacy alive,” the official said. “But we’re also clear-eyed about the prospects of that, given the readily apparent steps Russia is taking on the ground in plain sight, right before our eyes. The stakes of this are too high not to give Russia every chance to avoid an action that we believe would be catastrophic. So as always, we continue along two paths.”

The official said that Biden reiterated the US’s ideas for steps to both enhance European security and address some of Russia’s security concerns but noted that it “remains unclear whether Russia is interested in pursuing its goals diplomatically.”

Asked whether Russia has made a decision to invade, the official said, “I think the honest answer to that question is we don’t have full visibility into President Putin’s decision making.”

“But you know, we are not basing our assessment of this on what the Russians say publicly,” the official continued. “We are basing his assessment on what we are seeing on the ground…which is a continued Russian buildup on the border with Ukraine, and no meaningful evidence of de-escalation, or really of any interest in de-escalation.”

The official said that US will continue and even increase its support for Ukraine to help it defend itself should Russia continue to escalate its aggression. 

“As to our plans going forward, I think President Biden and other officials have been clear, that should Russia continue down the path to escalation, the United States will continue to increase our support to Ukraine, to enable it to defend itself, and you know, that approach has not changed,” the official said. 

CNN’s DJ Judd and Sam Fossum contributed reporting to this post.

During US President Biden’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the White House says Biden “was clear that, if Russia undertakes a further invasion of Ukraine, the United States together with our Allies and partners will respond decisively and impose swift and severe costs on Russia.”

Biden’s call with Putin started at 11:04 a.m. ET and lasted just over an hour, concluding at 12:06 p.m. ET. 

“President Biden reiterated that a further Russian invasion of Ukraine would produce widespread human suffering and diminish Russia’s standing,” the White House says, adding Biden “was clear with President Putin that while the United States remains prepared to engage in diplomacy, in full coordination with our Allies and partners, we are equally prepared for other scenarios,” according to the White House. 

UK Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey said that all British military trainers will leave Ukraine “over the course of the weekend,” in an interview with BBC Radio 4 earlier.

A British diplomat told CNN Saturday, “This proves NATO isn’t a threat to Russia — we are only defensive. As we have always said, we are not sending our troops to fight.”

According to a statement from a source at the UK Defense Department, “Heappey has said around 100 troops deployed on Operational Orbital in Ukraine will withdraw. Our work in Ukraine has always been in a training capacity, not combat. An assessment on the future of the training mission in country will be undertaken once it is deemed appropriate to allow British personnel back to Ukraine.”

On Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss “about acute and shared concerns that Russia may be considering launching further military aggression against Ukraine in the coming days,” according to a US State Department statement.

Truss tweeted she and Blinken agreed that “Russia will face massive consequences for any invasion, including severe sanctions.”

President Biden’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin was completed at 12:06 p.m. ET, according to a White House official.

The call clocked in at one hour and two minutes.

The discussion between the two leaders came hours after the US moved some of its forces out of Ukraine and ordered the evacuation of most of its embassy staff on Saturday as fears mount that a Russian invasion of the country could take place in the next few days.

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov holds a briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 3.

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said Saturday that Russia — which he described as “the aggressor” — would not capture any Ukrainian cities if it attempts to invade the country.

In a statement, Reznikov said the “armed forces of Ukraine are absolutely ready to fight back and will not give up Ukrainian lands,” as fears of a Russian invasion grow among the country’s international allies.

Back in 2014, Reznikov said Ukrainians “were not psychologically ready to resist someone with whom they sat at the same table yesterday,” but “the situation is completely different” now. That was the year in which Russia annexed Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula and conflict broke out between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine.

The defense minister added that Ukraine has its most powerful army in 15 years.

Lt. Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said in the statement that an active phase of command and staff exercises was underway at training grounds throughout the country. Ukraine is “constantly increasing our defense capabilities, coherence of units and military skills,” he said.

Having strengthened its defenses for the capital of Kyiv, and “gone through war and proper training,” Ukraine is now “ready to meet enemies… not with flowers, but with stingers, Javelins and NLAW,” Zaluzhny said, referring to weaponry systems.

Reznikov added that the country was also bolstered by the “unprecedented support” it has received from international partners, describing that support as “the largest ever since independence.”

He strongly criticized claims from Moscow that “Ukraine plans to attack Russia,” calling them “absurd.”

“We are not going to attack anyone, but we are doing everything to strengthen our defense and eliminate the possibility of escalation,” Reznikov said. Ukraine plans “to follow a political and diplomatic path” to regain the temporarily occupied territories, he added.

He urged Ukrainians to “remain calm” in the face of mounting warnings, calling calmness “the main weapon that can provide us with a solid foundation for defense.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a press conference in Melbourne, Australia, on February 11.

During his call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the “growing concern” of the United States about Russia’s ability to launch an invasion of Ukraine in coming days, a senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Blinken. The secretary of state also pressed for details about when Russia will submit its formal response to the US.

During the approximately 35-minute call, which the official described as “direct” and “professional,” Lavrov “indicated that Russia is still finalizing its response to the paper we provided over two weeks ago, that it would have to go to President Putin for his approval, but that it will be coming to us soon without providing any specific timeframe and the two agreed that once we received that response, then it would be appropriate for them to speak.”

The official said Lavrov did not give details of what would be in the Russian response.

Asked by CNN whether Blinken told Lavrov that diplomacy would end if Russia invades Ukraine, the official said they “would not say that the Secretary said if Russia invades the path diplomacy is dead,” but with any Russian invasion, “we would, at that point, you know, immediately switch to the path of imposing the cost that we’ve developed for the past two months with our allies and partners, and that would be our main focus.”

During the call, Blinken “emphasized the priority that we place on safety of American citizens, diplomatic personnel and our embassy facility,” the official said.

The State Department on Saturday ordered the departure of most US direct hire employees from the US Embassy in Kyiv.

The official told reporters that Lavrov again “denied that Russia has any intention to invade Ukraine.”

Blinken also “certainly noted that… in response to the foreign minister citing that the current military posturing and exercises are being done on Russian soil, that Belarus is not Russian soil, and so there was a discussion of that,” the official said.

Dutch airline KLM will “immediately” stop flying to Ukraine, CNN’s affiliates RTL News and NOS reported on Saturday.

The KLM flight scheduled to land in the capital Kyiv on Saturday evening has been canceled, RTL News reported, adding that KLM aircraft will no longer fly through Ukraine’s airspace until further notice.

“The decision follows the adjusted travel advice to code red and an extensive safety analysis,” the airline said in a statement, according to RTL News.

Normally, KLM flies to Kyiv twice a day, NOS reported.

Earlier on Saturday, the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs urged all Dutch people to leave Ukraine in light of the worsening security situation in the country.

An anti-war demonstration led by the No Surrender Movement gathers in Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 12, 2022.

Crowds of people gathered in the Ukrainian capital Saturday afternoon for what was billed as a “March of Unity for Ukraine.” CNN’s team in Kyiv reported that many of the people marching carried Ukrainian flags and signs with pro-Ukrainian slogans.

About 2,000 to 3,000 people marched from Shevchenko Park to Maidan Square, also known as Independence Square, in Kyiv with the goal of demonstrating “unity in the face of a common threat,” according to organizers. 

Several demonstrators taking part in the peaceful march spoke to CNN to voice their support for a democratic Ukraine, free from the influence of Russia.

“We are together, we are strong. And no matter how crazy our neighbor, we still want to be a peaceful democratic Ukraine,” said demonstrator Karina Kravchenko. “We don’t want to be friends, to be brothers with that crazy neighbor. We just want to be – to stand outside far, far away from that country.”

Another demonstrator, Vyacheslav Stelmah, told CNN that “Ukrainians will resist the possible Russian aggression. We are not going to just stay calm and stay silent while Russia poses a significant risk to our country.”

Among the many signs in the crowd was a large red one that read #PutinWarCriminal and #PutinMassMurderer.

The Ukrainian government has continued to urge its citizens to remain calm in the face of the threat of a Russian invasion. Earlier on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cast some doubt on suggestions that Russia might take military action as soon as next week, and the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was critical for citizens to remain calm, stay united, and “refrain from actions that undermine stability and sow panic.”

An anti-war demonstration led by the No Surrender Movement gathers in Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 12, 2022.

President Joe Biden’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin began at 11:04 a.m. ET, according to the White House pool. 

The call comes following a week of diplomatic efforts to avoid conflict in Ukraine as Russia continues its buildup of troops near the Ukrainian border.

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 invasion of the country could potentially take place in the next few days.

The Kremlin described a call Saturday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron as involving an “in-depth exchange of views” on issues relating to Russian security and “overcoming the impasse in resolving the intra-Ukrainian conflict.”

According to a Kremlin readout, “Vladimir Putin once again drew attention to the lack of a substantive response from the United States and NATO to well-known Russian initiatives. The unwillingness of the leading Western countries to push the Kyiv authorities to implement the Minsk agreements was also emphasized.”

Following months of fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Kyiv and Moscow signed a peace deal in Minsk in 2015. The deal, brokered by France and Germany, has never been fully implemented.

“Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron also discussed the situation related to provocative speculations about an allegedly planned Russian ‘invasion’ of Ukraine, accompanied by a large-scale pumping of this country with modern weapons and the prerequisites are being created for possible aggressive actions of Ukrainian security forces in the Donbas,” the readout said.

The two sides agreed to maintain dialogue on these issues “at the highest level,” the Kremlin readout added.

Germany will keep its embassy in Kyiv open but reduce its diplomatic staff, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Saturday.

“I have decided to further reinforce the crisis prevention measures that have already been taken,” Baerbock said in a tweet posted by the German Foreign Office.

“Our Consulate General Donetsk, based in Dnipro since 2014, is temporarily being relocated to Lviv,” she added.

The office also issued a travel warning for Ukraine on Saturday and asked German nationals in Ukraine to consider leaving the country.

US and Polish officials are scouting where to establish border control points to assist Americans coming out of Ukraine, according to two defense officials. 

Multiple sites have been identified along the border with Ukraine. The officials would not yet say the exact locations. 

One is expected to be an already existing Polish facility, while others are being built. The officials said the sites would offer temporary shelter and other amenities, as well as State Department services for Americans in transit. 

Troops of the 82nd Airborne in eastern Poland are expected to be handling much of the effort.

A senior defense official told CNN Friday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered 3,000 more soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to deploy to Poland, joining the 1,700 already there. The soldiers are there to help Americans who may try to leave Ukraine.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters earlier this month that 82nd Airborne troops were sent to Poland primarily because “they are multi-mission capable.”

French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone for 1 hour and 40 minutes Saturday in a follow-up to discussions the two held on Feb. 7, according to the Élysée Palace.

“The two presidents discussed different paths to proceed on the implementation of the Minsk Agreements and continued their discussion on the conditions for security and stability in Europe. They both expressed a willingness to continue the dialogue on these two points,” the Élysée statement said. “The President of the Republic conveyed the concerns of his European partners and allies to his interlocutor. He told President Putin that sincere dialogue was not compatible with an escalation.”

On Feb. 7, the two leaders met for more than five hours. After that meeting, Macron said that he and Putin were able to find “points of convergence” over the crisis and that it was “up to us to agree, jointly, concrete and specific measures to stabilize the situation and to de-escalate tensions.”

“A number of his proposals and ideas, about which it is too early to speak, I consider quite possible in order to lay a foundation for our further steps,” Putin said about the meeting.

Turkey has advised its citizens against traveling to eastern Ukraine as fears mount over a potential Russian invasion. 

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday on Twitter that it is “monitoring the security situation in Ukraine very closely.” 

“In this regard, we recommend our citizens avoid traveling to the eastern border regions of Ukraine unless they have to,” the ministry said.

Citizens undertaking necessary travel should “take all possible precautions for their personal safety” and contact the Turkish embassy in Kyiv before departing, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Embassy in Ukraine has urged Iranians there to “remain calm and prepare for a possible state of emergency.”

It also asked Iranian nationals to “stay in contact” with the embassy, according to Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency Saturday.

Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs updated its travel guidance on Saturday to advise against travel to Ukraine and urged citizens in the country to “seriously consider” leaving. 

“Due to the volatility of the security situation, we advise not to travel to Ukraine,” the ministry said in an update on its website. 

“We advise all Spanish citizens who are in the country to seriously consider the option of leaving temporarily via available commercial options (flights) while the current situation persists,” the guidance said.

The State Department is drawing down most of its staff at the US embassy in Kyiv because Russia has a “very capable” military and the US has to prepare for the worst scenario: a Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital, according to a senior official.

The US mission is only keeping a “core” number of diplomats in Ukraine as it orders most of the staff to leave the country. Some of those diplomats who are staying will relocate to Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, according to the official.

“Prudence requires us to assume, to plan for and prepare for a worst-case scenario. And the worst-case scenario would obviously involve substantial Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital,” the official told reporters during a phone call on Saturday morning. 

“Russia has a very capable military with substantial combat power, and should it choose to utilize a significant piece of that combat power against the Ukrainian capital, there’s plenty of opportunities – even with restraint and respect for diplomatic facilities – for things to go wrong,” the official said. 

“We’re shifting some people [to Lviv] in part because of its closer proximity to US diplomatic and consular facilities in neighboring countries, so we can maintain close coordination with colleagues in those neighboring countries and ensure that, should military action on the part of Russia begin, we can move those people safely, should we decide to do so,” the official said. 

The US diplomats will carry out core diplomatic functions and provide “emergency consular services” in Lviv, the official said. But routine services will only be available for Americans in neighboring countries, the official said. 

The diplomats are not working from a US facility in Lviv, they are just temporarily in the city, the official said. 

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a news briefing at the Pentagon on January 28, in Arlington, Virginia.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered members of the Florida National Guard out of Ukraine, repositioning them “elsewhere in Europe,” according to a Pentagon statement.

The 160 soldiers have been in Ukraine since November on a training mission.

The move, combined with the evacuation of nonessential embassy personnel from the US embassy in Kyiv, is a sign of growing concern among US officials about the safety of Americans in Ukraine.

The Pentagon says it is still supporting Ukraine’s military, despite this order. 

“This repositioning does not signify a change in our determination to support Ukraine’s Armed Forces, but will provide flexibility in assuring allies and deterring aggression,” the statement said.

Today, Austin also discussed Russia’s military “build-up in Crimea and around Ukraine” in a call with Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu, according to a brief Pentagon readout.

CNN’s Barbara Starr contributed reporting to this post.

A security officer patrols in front of the US Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.

A senior State Department official said it is past time for US citizens to leave Ukraine because there are limits to what the country can do to assist them in a conflict zone. 

“These developments mean for private American citizens, that it isn’t just time to leave Ukraine. It is past time for private citizens to leave Ukraine,” the official said during a call with reporters on Saturday, adding that “there are real limits to what we are able to do in a war zone.”

While the Biden administration is working “intensively” to ensure that a war does not break out, the official said the possibility of armed conflict appears “increasingly likely.”

“We fervently hope and continue to work intensively to try to ensure that Ukraine does not become a war zone, and as you saw [Secretary of State Antony Blinken] working actively this morning to try to prevent that outcome with [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov]. However, it appears increasingly likely that this is where this situation is headed, towards some kind of active conflict,” the official said, adding that is why the steps are being taken now to get out US diplomats in a “safe and predictable” fashion.  

The official warned that war zones are “inherently volatile” and “extremely dangerous.”

“Once a country or region becomes an active conflict zone, we have very little ability to help our fellow citizens,” the official said. 

The official reiterated that Americans should not expect the US military to evacuate or rescue them from the country.

A “couple thousand” Americans have told the State Department in recent days that they are still in Ukraine, and a “substantial number” of them do not want to leave the country despite potential dangers, the official said.

“We’re in active contact with them to understand whether or not they are planning to leave,” the official told reporters, as the department continues to urge those Americans to leave the country.

The official said the US respects the decision of the Americans who want to stay but encourages them to reconsider that choice. 

“We fully respect their right to make their own choices, and … there are many reasons why people might resist leaving, including if they’re long-term residents of Ukraine,” the official said.

Some of the Americans are trying to leave the country now or have left already. The State Department is helping them leave if they want to do so. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a meeting in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on February 11.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the “best friend” for Ukraine’s enemies is instilling panic in the country.

Speaking briefly after watching military exercises near Kherson, in southern Ukraine, Zelensky said he had to “analyze all the information” regarding threats at the country’s borders.

“And the truth is that we have different information. And now the best friend for enemies is panic in our country. And all this information helps only to create panic, doesn’t help us,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky has repeatedly called over recent weeks for Ukrainians to remain calm in the face of rising tensions with Russia.

The president was also asked about possible riots being staged in Ukraine.

“We understand that surprises can happen at any time,” he said. “We must rely on our own strength. We understand that such things can happen without warning. Therefore, the most important thing is that we are ready for everything … ready for any steps from any side, from any borders. I think that our experts, our teams, ministries, our military are at a very serious level.”

Asked about the possibility of a Russian invasion, the president said, “As a state, we must rely on ourselves first of all. We must rely on our military first of all. We must rely on our citizens. And we must be ready any day.”

But Zelensky cast some doubt on suggestions that Russia might take military action as soon as next week, noting that intelligence on an invasion was not “100%.” 

“I believe that today there is too much information in the information space about deep full-scale war from Russia Federation’s side. They even say the appropriate dates,” he said. “We understand all the risks, we understand that there are these risks. If you have any additional information about the 100% invasion, starting on the 16th, the Russian invasion in Ukraine, please give us this information.”

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Israel joined the growing list of countries urging their citizens on Saturday to leave Ukraine.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Kuwaiti nationals currently present in Ukraine to leave instantly for the “sake of their safety,” according to state news agency KUNA. The country also urged Kuwaitis to delay any travel plans to Ukraine.

The Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Ukraine urged its nationals to contact the embassy immediately to facilitate their evacuation, according to a tweet from its official account. 

Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a statement on Saturday urging Jordanians against travel to Ukraine. The statement said that Jordanian nationals in Ukraine should prepare to evacuate.  

In a tweet on Saturday, the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Ukraine said: “The Embassy of the State in Kiev calls on the citizens of the country to postpone travel to Ukraine at the present time.” It also called on nationals currently in Ukraine to contact the embassy.  

The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted Saturday, also calling on its citizens to leave. A statement from the ministry read: “As a result of the deterioration of the situation regarding Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry recommends Israeli citizens in Ukraine reconsider their stay in the country, and in any event, avoid approaching focal points of tensions. The Foreign Ministry recommends Israeli citizens planning on traveling to Ukraine to consider avoiding doing so at this time … The Foreign Ministry has decided to evacuate from the country the family members of diplomats and Israeli workers at the Embassy.”

The US State Department is reissuing its Level 4 travel advisory for Ukraine.

The department advises travelers: “Do not travel to Ukraine due to the increased threats of Russian military action and COVID-19; those in Ukraine should depart immediately via commercial or private means.”

The statement warned those remaining in Ukraine to “exercise increase caution” due to civil unrest and potential combat operations in case Russia takes military action.

“The Embassy will maintain a small consular presence in Lviv, Ukraine to handle emergencies, but will not be able to provide passport, visa or routine consular services,” according to the statement.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken takes part in a press conference in Melbourne, Australia, on February 11.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed “acute and shared concerns that Russia may be considering launching further military aggression against Ukraine in the coming days,” and urged a diplomatic solution during his phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said. 

The call comes just hours before US President Joe Biden and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin are expected to speak over the phone, and as the State Department has ordered the evacuation of most of its embassy staff in Ukraine.

“The secretary made clear that a diplomatic path to resolving the crisis remained open, but it would require Moscow to deescalate and engage in good-faith discussions,” Price said.

Russia has continued to build its presence along Ukraine’s borders in recent days, and Blinken “reiterated that should Moscow pursue the path of aggression and further invade Ukraine, it would result in a resolute, massive, and united transatlantic response,” Price said. 

Lithuania on Saturday encouraged its nationals to leave Ukraine by asking them to “assess the necessity of further stay in the country” and advised against unnecessary travel there.

“In view of the evolving security situation in Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends Lithuanian citizens against unnecessary travel to Ukraine,” a statement from the ministry said.

“The Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Ukraine continues to carry out all its main functions. Lithuanian citizens already present in the country are asked to assess the necessity of further stay in the country,” the statement added.

Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also advised Iraqi citizens in Ukraine to evacuate the country immediately, Iraq’s state news agency reported Saturday. 

Multiple other countries have urged their citizens to depart Ukraine, including the United States and United Kingdom.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends a press conference in Moscow, Russia, on February 10.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have held a phone call to discuss the Ukraine crisis, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday.

The call was made at the initiative of the Americans, the ministry’s statement said.

“The minister [Lavrov] stressed that the propaganda campaign launched by the United States and its allies regarding ‘Russian aggression’ against Ukraine pursues provocative goals, encouraging the authorities in Kyiv to sabotage the Minsk agreements and harmful attempts to resolve the ‘Donbas problem’ by force,” the statement said.

“As the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry noted, the reaction by Washington and Brussels to the drafts of the Russian-American treaty and agreement with NATO on security guarantees submitted by us ignores key provisions for us, primarily on the non-expansion of the alliance and the non-deployment of strike weapon systems near Russian borders,” it continued.

These issues will be central to Russia’s assessment of the documents received from the US and NATO, the statement stressed.

Those documents were sent to Russia late last month after Moscow asked for a written response from the US and NATO to its proposed treaty of security guarantees and its concerns over the potential expansion of NATO in Eastern Europe. 

The Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Saturday urged all Dutch people to leave Ukraine in light of the worsening security situation in the country. 

“The security situation was already worrying and has gotten even worse in the past days. In consultation with the various allies, I am now taking this step and calling on all Dutch people to leave Ukraine,” Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra said in a statement. 

Most personnel at the embassy of the Netherlands in Kyiv will leave Ukraine and only “a minimum presence will remain,” Hoekstra added. 

The European Union and the United States have talked about a “robust package of sanctions” that will be deployed in the “case of further military aggression of Russia in Ukraine,” according to an EU readout released Saturday.

According to the readout, Björn Seibert, head of cabinet of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, discussed the sanctions during his conversation on Friday night with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan “on the evolution of the situation in Ukraine.”

The officials also discussed the “additional steps that will be taken to prepare for any future disruption of energy supplies to Europe,” it said, sharing their thoughts on the EU-US strategic partnership on energy security. 

Some context: Analysts have warned that a conflict in Ukraine could threaten energy supplies, including through potential sanctions, as Russia is the world’s No. 2 producer of both oil and natural gas.

Senior US officials told CNN last month that the Biden administration was making contingency plans to shore up Europe’s energy supplies should a Russian invasion of Ukraine create gas shortages.

German citizens should leave Ukraine “at short notice” if their presence is not required in the country, the German Foreign Office said Saturday.

“We are warning against travel to Ukraine,” the Foreign Office said on its website. “If you are currently in Ukraine, check if your presence is required. If not, leave at short notice.”

“Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have continued to rise in recent days amid the massive presence and movements of Russian military units near Ukraine’s borders. A military confrontation cannot be ruled out.”

The German Consulate General Donetsk, in Dnipro, Ukraine, is temporarily closed with immediate effect, according to the foreign office. 

Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers ride a tank during a drill in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on February 10.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday continued to urge its citizens to remain calm and affirmed its “strong position” against Russia, as several countries warned their citizens to leave the country amid the looming threat of invasion.

“Right now it is critical to remain calm, stay united and consolidated within the country, and refrain from actions that undermine stability and sow panic,” a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reads.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are constantly monitoring the developments and are ready to repel any attack on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine,” it added.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, alongside the National Security and Defense Council, made a “thorough analysis of the current security situation and further actions of Ukraine,” the statement said, noting that the country has “further strengthened its capacity to protect the security of the state and citizens.”

“Ukrainian diplomacy is in touch with all key partners, promptly receives the necessary security information, which allows Ukraine to take timely actions,” the ministry added.

“We continue working on reducing tensions and mobilizing support from international partners to keep Russia in the framework of the diplomatic dialogue.”

Read most headlines coming out of the West around Ukraine, and the situation looks dire.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “could begin at any time”– US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “American citizens should leave now” – President Joe Biden. “The number of (Russian) troops is going up, while the warning time is going down” – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

In Kyiv, many embassies are advising their citizens to pack their bags and leave as fresh shipments of military aid – including pallets of US-made Javelin anti-tank missiles – arrive on the tarmac in Ukraine.

But in Moscow, it’s still possible to get a late booking at the swish Café Pushkin, although it’s a bit harder to get a table at another prime people-watching venue, Dr. Zhivago, a stone’s throw from Red Square.

That’s not to suggest the Ukraine crisis is not front and center in Russia.

A flurry of high-level diplomatic visits has dominated the airwaves this week, beginning with French President Emmanuel Macron’s one-on-one meeting with Russian President Putin and concluding with a sit-down between Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and UK Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace.

But in the glittering disco-ball that is Russia’s capital city, the geopolitical drama feels like an illusion. Despite the talk of an imminent Russian attack – and the indisputable evidence that Russia has ringed the Ukrainian border with more than 100,000 combat ready troops and sent new warships into the Black Sea – Russia hardly seems to be on a war footing, at least as far as the public discussion goes.

Read the full story here:

British nationals should leave Ukraine immediately and not expect the possibility of a military evacuation, UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said Saturday. 

“There are missile systems, artillery, and combat air all [in] place that would mean that Russia could mount an invasion with very little notice indeed. And our duty as government is to hope for the best but plan for the worse,” Heappey told Sky News in an interview.

“And that means the British nationals should leave Ukraine immediately by any means possible,” Heappey said. “And they should not expect as they saw in the summer with Afghanistan that there’ll be any possibility of a military evacuation.”

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) updated its travel guidance for Ukraine on Friday, advising “against all travel to Ukraine.” 

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Saturday, Heappey said the situation in Ukraine “will be very different to Afghanistan” which had “nothing going on in the sky.” 

The minister told BBC Radio 4 that in the event of a war in the region, “there’s simply not the ability” for there to be an international airlift. 

He highlighted the many “opportunities” over the weekend and next week to “carry on talking to Putin and his key ministers,” but cautioned that in the worst-case scenario, “an attack from the Russians on Ukraine is now feasible at any moment.”

Soldiers of the 2nd US Cavalry Regiment prepare before their deployment to Romania, at the US Airbase in Vilseck, Germany, on February 9.

Russia’s deputy representative at the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, mockingly asked on Friday whether “the US will invade Ukraine” in response to news of additional deployments of US troops to Poland in eastern Europe.

In response to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s warning that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could begin any day now, Polyanskiy tweeted: “Someone has to [invade Ukraine], after such a panic campaign.”

“Some reasonable people were hoping US-fanned hysteria was waning. Maybe they put a jinx on it, because scaremongers have clearly got second wind,” he said.

Polyanskiy – who is well known for provocative and bombastic statements on social media – also said that unlike US troops stationed in European countries (by invitation), Russian troops continue to remain within their own national borders: “We condemn the policy of the United States and its allies that relocate their military to eastern Europe,” he said.

On Friday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered an additional 3,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne to deploy to Poland amid rising concern that Russia is about to invade Ukraine.

“Those are steps in a wrong direction. Instead of bringing de-escalation, it may provoke a crisis that all of us would want to avoid,” Polyanskiy said.

Ukrainian soldiers man a frontline position near Verkhnotoretske, Ukraine, on February 7.

Ukraine remains committed to its goal to “ensure maximum protection” for the country in the face of warnings of a looming invasion from Russia, one of the country’s top officials told CNN on Saturday. 

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak said that regardless of “whatever is published and whatever is said” the Ukrainian leadership’s “goal remains the same – to ensure maximum protection for Ukraine.”

UK and US officials have sounded strong warnings in the past 48 hours regarding Russia’s ability to mount an invasion at any moment. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday that a Russian attack “could begin at any time.”

Pointing to next steps, Podoliak said there are “still many rounds of negotiations at different levels to ensure a real de-escalation,” highlighting the visit from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Kyiv next week.

A “concentration of nervousness” could damage the country’s economy and lead to “internal destabilization,” Podoliak said, adding that a sense of “resilience” will prove crucial when facing the next phase of negotiations. 

Addressing those who wish to see destabilization, Podoliak warned that “the response from the state will be very tough and very powerful.”

He said the coordinated efforts of the Ukrainian military, diplomats, political leadership, and partners have been “the most meaningful since 2014,” which is the year that Russia annexed Crimea.

“Ukraine has not wasted any time during these few years. We have become stronger and are ready to defend the state and national interests,” he concluded. 

A warship of the Russian Black Sea fleet leaves a port during naval drills in Sevastopol, Crimea, in this image taken from video provided by the Russian Defence Ministry, on February 12.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said Saturday that over 30 warships were underway in the Black Sea as part of planned naval drills, with vessels departing their homeports in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk and making the journey to areas designated for the exercises.

The drills are being conducted under leadership of Adm. Igor Osipov, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, the statement said. 

“The objective of the drill is to defend the seacoast of the Crimean Peninsula, the bases of the forces (troops) of the Black Sea Fleet – as well as the sites of economic significance for the country, sea lines of communication and areas of maritime economic activity – from possible military threats of a notional adversary,” the statement said.  

The ministry said the exercises would involve live-fire drills, including missile, artillery and air-launched weapons against sea, coastal and air targets.

More than 30 warships of various classes will take part, including frigates, patrol ships, small missile ships and missile boats, landing ships, small anti-submarine ships, as well as mine defense ships, the ministry added. 

A persons walks past a sign for the US Embassy in Kyiv on January 24.

The US State Department today ordered all non-emergency US employees at its Kyiv embassy to depart due to continued reports of a Russian military build-up near the Ukrainian border, indicating potential for significant military action, according to a tweet. 

“Despite the reduction in diplomatic staff, the core embassy team, our dedicated Ukrainian colleagues, and @StateDept and U.S. personnel around the world will continue relentless diplomatic and assistance efforts in support of Ukraine’s security, democracy, and prosperity,” the post from the US embassy in Kyiv added. 

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has demanded that the current Ukrainian administration take “all emergency measures” to protect the country.

In a series of tweets Saturday, Poroshenko spoke of “a lot of new and alarming information on Russia’s readiness to invade Ukraine in a full-scale manner.”

“It now arises to the responsibility of politicians to take all emergency measures to protect the country and its people from the worst-case scenario,” he said.

He called on the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky to “convene a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council with the participation of leaders of all parliamentary factions to discuss proposals and develop a common and joint action plan on how to protect the country.”

Poroshenko, who Zelensky defeated in the presidential election in 2019, also demanded “an extraordinary sitting of the Parliament on Saturday and to invite the President, the Minister of Defense, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, heads of intelligence agencies.”

He said Ukraine should initiate a meeting of the UN Security Council, while adding: ” I remain confident that the situation will be resolved peacefully, in a political and diplomatic way, and with the active position of the Ukrainian side.”

UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey speaks at a press conference in November 2021.

There will be no British troops in Ukraine if there is conflict with Russia, said UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey while speaking to Sky News on Saturday. 

Heappey said that although there have been “British troops involved in a training mission in Ukraine for many years,” there will be no UK forces sent to the country “if there is any conflict with Russia.” 

In a separate interview with BBC Radio 4, Heappey announced that all British military trainers would leave Ukraine “over the course of the weekend.”

His comments follow a visit by UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to Moscow this week during which the United Kingdom “urged dialogue as a way through to address any concerns that Russia” has, according to Wallace.  

“It’s important that I made the point about British and indeed Western involvement in Ukraine because I think the Kremlin would like there to be a pretext that there was Western aggression in Ukraine to which they were then responding,” Heappey said.

NATO’s borders “do need reinforcing at a time of crisis like this,” he said, adding this is why the UK and United States have ramped up their commitments to send troops to NATO’s eastern border. 

Some context: Ukraine is not a NATO member, and therefore doesn’t have the same security guarantees as NATO members.

But NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has left the possibility of Ukraine becoming a NATO member on the table, saying that Russia does not have the right to tell Ukraine that it cannot pursue NATO membership.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for specific legal agreements that would rule out any further NATO expansion eastwards towards Russia’s borders, saying the West has not lived up to its previous verbal assurances.

The American flag flies outside the US embassy in Kyiv on January 28.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that the United States would have more to say about its embassy in Ukraine “in the coming hours” in a response to a journalist’s question during a press conference in Fiji.

A reporter asked Blinken if the US would be evacuating its embassy in Kyiv.

“I’ll have more to say about that, we’ll have more to say about that in the coming hours,” said Blinken.

“This is something we’re focused on as we speak,” he said.

UK ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons said in a tweet on Saturday that she will remain in the country.

As foreign diplomatic missions in Kyiv are drawn down and citizens advised to leave, the British ambassador in Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, says she will be staying on.

Simmons tweeted Saturday: “I am staying in Kyiv and continue to work there with a core team. The embassy remains operational.”

On Friday, the UK Foreign Office advised against all travel to Ukraine. “British nationals in Ukraine should leave now by commercial means,” it said. 

New Zealand’s government is also advising its citizens in Ukraine to leave the country immediately, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said in a press release Saturday.

The statement warned that New Zealand “does not have diplomatic representation in Ukraine,” which limits its “ability to provide consular assistance to New Zealanders in Ukraine.”

Mahuta said the government was monitoring the situation in Ukraine closely and that its travel advisory was in line with that from neighbouring Australia and others including the United States and the United Kingdom.

The country called on Russia “once more to take immediate steps to reduce tensions and the risk of a severe miscalculation.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Beijing on February 4.

A senior US administration official said that the recent meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping and the joint statement released following that meeting suggest that Beijing acknowledges Moscow’s actions toward Ukraine as “legitimate.” The official also described the closeness between the two nations “one of the most important and strategically significant alignments on the global stage.”

Putin and Xi met in Beijing on the day of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in China’s capital.

“The fact that Xi decided to meet with President Putin on the eve of the Olympics … while hundreds of thousands of troops and tanks on the Ukraine border, to have this broad reaching, really aligned set of global views, it’s hard to read this any other way than as, in many respects, an acknowledgement that doing this is legitimate, are thinking about actions in Ukraine are legitimate,” the official told reporters traveling with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

The official said the United States is “concerned by that.”

Biden administration officials have warned that Russia could invade Ukraine “at any time,” including during the ongoing Beijing Olympics.

The senior administration official said that the relationship between Moscow and Beijing is “driven by the leaders, by Putin and Xi,” noting that “bureaucratically in both countries there are anxieties about the other, but not at the top level apparently.”

The alignment between the two nations has to be taken seriously, the official said, telling reporters, “we can’t downplay it.”

“They are working together, they are working in many circumstances to undermine us,” the official said. 

The official said the statement released by the two leaders following their early February meeting was a topic of discussion during Friday’s Quad meeting in Melbourne, noting “the Australians and the Indians and the Japanese all had strong views about what this, you know, 5,000-word kind of statement about common purpose means.”

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry has advised Taiwanese citizens in Ukraine “to evacuate as soon as possible” and urged against further travel there.

“Given the tense situation on the Ukraine and Russian border that will possibly escalate, in consideration of our citizens’ safety, the Ministry urges nationals to avoid traveling to Ukraine. Meanwhile, we also advise about 25 expatriates who are studying and working in Ukraine to evacuate as soon as possible,” the ministry said in a statement issued Saturday local time.

The ministry also called on “all countries involved” in the Russia-Ukraine situation to “solve differences and conflicts through peaceful and rational conversation, working together to maintain the regional and global stability, and rule-based international order.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks at a press conference in Nadi, Fiji, on February 12.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has threatened heavy sanctions against Russia if Russian President Vladimir Putin takes military action in Ukraine.

“If President Putin decides to take military action, we will swiftly impose severe economic sanctions in coordination with allies and partners around the world,” Blinken said Saturday during a trip to Fiji.

Blinken said there are “very troubling signs of Russian escalation.” He added: “We’re in the window when a Russian invasion can start at any time.”

Blinken said he would speak with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later Saturday and would reiterate these intentions.

“This is a pivotal moment,” Blinken said.

The conversation between the two top diplomats would come ahead of a planned call between US President Joe Biden and Putin, and as top US officials warn that Russia could invade Ukraine at any time, including during the ongoing Beijing Winter Olympics.

Blinken, speaking at the news conference in Fiji, said the United States does not know if Putin has made a decision about whether to invade, but underscored that the Russian President has put into place the capacity to do so on short notice, even in the coming days. All the US has seen from Moscow is escalation, Blinken added.

Blinken said he would stress to Lavrov the “unity and common purpose” of the US and its allies to punish Moscow if Russia invades Ukraine, including through the swift imposition of economic sanctions and bolstered support for Kyiv.

Blinken said that throughout his trip this week, he had been in touch with the Biden administration’s national security team, including Biden himself, about plans and preparations, as well as with his foreign counterparts.

In this screengrab taken from video provided by the Russian Defence Ministry, troops from Russia and Belarus take part in a joint military exercise on February 9. 

The US and its allies have new intelligence that suggests Russia could launch an attack on Ukraine even before the end of the Olympics, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. 

Previous assessments had suggested that Russia was unlikely to move into Ukraine until after the Olympics end on Feb. 20, US officials had told CNN in the past. The revelation of the new intelligence comes as administration officials have dramatically ramped up the urgency of their public warnings related to Ukraine in the past 24 hours.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine “could begin at any time,” including during the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the United States continues “to see very troubling signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border.”

Kyiv is among the targets identified in the Russian planning, three sources familiar with the new intelligence tell CNN. 

There are ongoing conversations within the administration about declassifying some of that new intelligence, which two US officials said may come later on Friday.

President Biden on Friday morning was set to hold a call with NATO and European allies to discuss the latest intelligence, a White House official told CNN. A European defense official said the North Atlantic Council will be discussing the situation and the new intelligence in a meeting later Friday.  

Biden also joined a meeting of his top national security advisers Thursday evening in the White House Situation Room to discuss the crisis, a person familiar with the meeting said.

When asked about new intelligence, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian defense minister said that such warnings have been heard already.

“Again? These statements have already been heard,” Iryna Zolotar, press secretary for Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, told CNN.

CNN’s Alex Marquardt and Mick Krever contributed reporting to this post.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan encouraged all Americans who remain in Ukraine “to depart immediately” as he detailed how the choreography of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine could unfold. 

“We obviously cannot predict the future. We don’t know exactly what is going to happen, but the risk is now high enough and the threat is now immediate enough,” he added.

Sullivan said that if Americans stay they “are assuming risk with no guarantee that there will be any other opportunity to leave and no prospect of a US military evacuation in the event of a Russian invasion.”

The national security adviser said that if Russia invades, then it would likely begin with an aerial bombing ahead of a ground invasion. 

“If a Russian attack on Ukraine proceeds, it is likely to begin with aerial bombing and missile attacks that could obviously kill civilians without regard to their nationality. A subsequent ground invasion would involve the onslaught of a massive force. With virtually no notice, communications to arrange a departure could be severed and commercial transit halted,” he added.

Sullivan also said: “I am not standing here and saying what is going to happen and not happen; I’m only standing here to say that the risk is now high enough and the threat is immediate enough that prudence demands that it is the time to leave now.”

President Biden also said “American citizens should leave now” in an upcoming interview that was taped Thursday with NBC News’ Lester Holt.