Effective immediately, White House national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said Americans should leave Ukraine immediately. “We encourage all American citizens who remain in Ukraine to depart immediately,” Sullivan told reporters at Friday’s White House press conference.
“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.” Obviously, the sting from the horrendous withdrawal from Afghanistan is lingering in the background of the White House’s decision-making.
Sullivan explained, “the president will not be putting the lives of our men and women in uniform at risk by sending them into a war zone to rescue people who could have left now, but chose not to.”
Sullivan also said, “there are very real possibilities that it will involve the seizure of a significant amount of territory in Ukraine and the seizure of major cities, including the capital city [Kyiv].”
Also on Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said an invasion could take place during the Olympics. “As we’ve said before, we’re in a window when an invasion could begin at any time – and to be clear that includes during the Olympics” Blinken told reporters in Melbourne, Australia.