Ukraine’s President Rejects US Warning About Russia’s impending Invasion

UkraineHis president has issued heightened warnings about the possibility Russian invasion within days, says he has yet to see conclusive evidence, even as the United States warned on Sunday of more Russian troops moving closer to Ukraine’s border and some airlines canceled or moved direct flights there.

The White House said President Joe Biden will speak later in the day with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Repeated statements by Ukraine’s leader urging the population to calm down – while Russian forces encircle Ukraine on three sides in what Russia insists are military exercises – have increased late in the day. This week led Zelenskyy to question tough warnings from US officials in recent days that Russia could be planning an invasion soon after. in the middle of the week.

According to a US official familiar with the findings, the US has obtained intelligence that Russia is considering Wednesday as a target date. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and did so only on condition of anonymity, would not comment on the authenticity of the intelligence.

“We’re not going to give Russia a chance to surprise here, to start something up for Ukraine or the world,” Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, told CNN on Sunday.

“We’re going to make sure we’re giving the world what we see as transparently and clearly as possible,” he said.

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Much of the United States has not made public the evidence it considers the basis of its most specific warnings about possible Russian plans or timing.

The Russians deployed missile, air, naval and special operations forces, as well as supplies, to sustain an invasion. This week, Russia moved six amphibious assault ships into the Black Sea, increasing its ability to land on its shores.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Sunday that Russia has more than 100,000 troops along the border with Ukraine, “and indeed, in the past few days, even more.”

Kirby cited “an intelligence picture” that the US had obtained, but gave no details. “We have good sources of intelligence and they’re telling us, you know, things are building into some sort of transcendent opportunity for Putin.”

Zelenskyy’s comments this weekend show frustration at warnings from Washington, as he tries to minimize the damage to Ukraine’s economy during the crisis.

“We understand all the risks, we understand that there are risks,” he said during a live broadcast. “If you, or anyone else, have additional information regarding the 100% Russian invasion starting on the 16th, please forward that information to us.”

In an hour-long phone call on Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden said an invasion of Ukraine would cause “massive human suffering” and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end it. end the crisis but “also prepare for other scenarios,” the White House said. It makes no suggestion that the call downplays the threat of an impending war in Europe.

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Reflecting Western concerns, Dutch airline KLM has canceled flights to Ukraine until further notice, the company said.

The Netherlands’ sensitivity to a potential threat in Ukrainian airspace increased after the 2014 shooting down of a Malaysian jet flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur as it flew over parts of eastern Ukraine by rebels. held by Russia. All 298 people on board were killed, including 198 Dutch citizens.

Ukraine’s SkyUp airline on Sunday said its flight from Madeira, Portugal, to Kyiv had been redirected to the Moldovan capital Chisinau after the Irish lessor said it had banned the flights. in Ukrainian airspace.

Ukrainian Presidential spokesman Serhii Nykyforov told the AP news agency that Ukraine has not closed its airspace.

However, Ukraine’s air traffic safety agency Ukraerorukh issued a statement declaring the airspace over the Black Sea a “potentially dangerous area” and advised aircraft to avoid flying over this sea from 14-19 / 2.

The call between Putin and Biden, following a phone call between Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day, comes at a pivotal moment in the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. . American officials believe they have only a few days to avert a massive invasion and bloodshed in Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will fly to Kyiv on Monday and Moscow on Tuesday to meet the presidents in those capitals.

While the US and its NATO allies have no plans to send troops to Ukraine to counter Russia, an invasion and resulting punitive sanctions could resonate further than the former Soviet republic, affect energy supplies, global markets and the balance of power in Europe.

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In a sign that US officials are preparing for the worst, the US has announced plans to evacuate most of its staff from its embassy in Kyiv and called on all US citizens to leave Ukraine immediately. . Britain has joined other European nations in asking its citizens to leave.

Biden has increased the US military presence in Europe as a reassurance to allies on NATO’s eastern flank. 3,000 additional troops were ordered to Poland, topping 1,700 already on their way there. The US military is also transferring 1,000 troops from Germany to Romania, just like Poland shares a border with Ukraine.

Russia is asking the West not to let the former Soviet Union countries out of NATO. It also wants NATO to limit the deployment of weapons near its borders and push back coalition forces from Eastern Europe – demands flatly denied by the West.

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly leader was kicked out of office by a popular uprising. Moscow responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula and then backing separatists in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has left more than 14,000 people dead.

A 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany helped prevent large-scale battles, but frequent skirmishes have continued and efforts to reach a political agreement have stalled.

“My family has always been prepared, we have collected everything like a couple of years now. Honestly, I’m not afraid because the war won’t start for another week,” Yuliia Zaets, 21, said at a pro-government rally on Saturday.

Knickmeyer reports from Washington. Yuras Karmanau of Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed.