Russia is not planning an attack on Ukraine now or anytime soon, Russia’s ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, told the German newspaper Die Welt, rejecting the repeated warnings from the United States and a number of its allies that an invasion of Ukraine is imminent.
“Wars in Europe rarely start on Wednesday,” Chizhov quipped. “As far as Russia is concerned, I can assure you that no attack will take place this Wednesday. Escalation will not occur in the coming week, the week thereafter, or in the following month.
He told the DPA agency: “When accusations fall — especially these serious accusations against Russia — then there should be a responsibility to support them with evidence. Otherwise, it is just slander.”
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that Russia had gathered 150,000 troops on its border with Ukraine and that the country’s threatened invasion of Ukraine was still one of the “very real possibilities.” Referring to three official sources from Washington and Europe over the weekend, the Politico news outlet wrote that the Russian invasion of Ukraine could begin on Feb. 16. Other top Biden administration officials, including Jake Sullivan, promoted that an invasion date could come as soon as Feb. 16.
“We want to be crystal clear on this point. Any American in Ukraine should leave as soon as possible and, in any event, in the next 24 to 48 hours,” said Sullivan. “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 that this is what prudence demands.”
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Russia’s Ministry of Defense released footage on Wednesday morning, which claimed to show convoys of tanks and military vehicles leaving the Crimea on a railway and road bridge after a military exercise.
“Southern Military District troops have completed tactical exercises on the Crimean polygons and are returning to their bases,” the ministry stated.
The Biden administration says that a military threat still remains high and that they will have to review more intelligence evidence to ascertain whether Russian claims of drawing down forces are truthful.
