US President Joe Biden’s worrying comments come as Prime Minister Boris Johnson hit out at Russia – and warned ‘we fear very much that that is a thing we will see more of over the next few days’
Image: via REUTERS)
US President Joe Biden has said there is a “high risk” of a Russian invasion into Ukraine within the next “several days”.
Biden made the worrying remarks while speaking to reporters as he left the White House, and said there was “every indication that they are prepared to go into Ukraine”.
He added there was no plan for him to hold a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It comes as Boris Johnson said today that an attack on a kindergarten in Ukraine was a “false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians”.
The Prime Minister hit out at Russia – and warned “we fear very much that that is a thing we will see more of over the next few days”.
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It comes after the UK, US and NATO all warned Moscow is trying to stage a false flag “pretext” for the invasion of Ukraine, despite claiming it is withdrawing troops near the border.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said pro-Russian forces had shelled a kindergarten, in what he called a “big provocation”.
Video footage released by Ukrainian police showed a hole through a brick wall in a room scattered with debris and children’s toys. Separate images showed emergency workers escorting small children and teachers from a building.
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The Kremlin, in return, said Moscow was “seriously concerned” about reports of an escalation after the separatists accused government forces of opening fire on their territory four times in the past 24 hours.
Speaking on a visit to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I wish I could give everybody better news about this, but I have to tell you that the picture is continuing to be very grim.
“Today, as I’m sure you’ve already picked up, a kindergarten was shelled in what we are taking to be – well, we know – was a false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians, designed to create a pretext, a spurious provocation for Russian action.
“We fear very much that that is the kind of thing we will see more of over the next few days.
“What we are doing is making that we do everything to strengthen the package of sanctions that will follow immediately should there be a Russian invasion.”
Mr Johnson added: “We are strengthening the eastern frontier of Nato and I’ll be going to the European Security Conference in Munich a little bit later on over the weekend to talk about what we are going to do to unify the West.”
Russia has repeatedly denied planning to invade Ukraine and said this week it was pulling back some of the more than 100,000 troops it has massed near the frontier.
However, US security officials have said Moscow isn’t withdrawing at all, but sending more troops.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at NATO headquarters: “We see them fly in more combat and support aircraft. We see them sharpen their readiness in the Black Sea.
“We even see them stocking up their blood supplies.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was “seriously concerned” about reports of an escalation.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called the reports “a blatant attempt by the Russian government to fabricate pretexts for invasion”.
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