Washington warns of a growing Russian buildup near Ukraine, and aerial photos confirm this
Washington said on Friday that Russia was massing more troops near Ukraine and that the invasion could come any time, possibly before the end of the Winter Olympics this month.
For its part, Moscow has intensified its tough response to Western diplomacy, saying the answers this week to its security demands sent by the European Union and NATO showed a "disrespect".
Commercial satellite imagery released by a private US company showed new Russian military deployments to several locations near Ukraine.
US-based Maxar Technologies, which has been tracking the build-up of Russian forces for weeks, said images taken on Wednesday and Thursday showed significant new deployments to several locations in Crimea, western Russia and Belarus.
Russia is holding joint military exercises in the former Soviet Belarus, as well as naval exercises in the Black Sea, in the context of the escalation of military activity near Ukraine, which has raised fears of an imminent invasion.
Russia denies any plans to launch an attack.
And in his strongest warning yet for Americans in Ukraine to get out now, President Joe Biden said he would not send troops to rescue American citizens in the event of a Russian attack.
"Things can go wrong very quickly," Biden told NBC News.
"We are in a window where an invasion could start at any time, and to be clear, it could be during the Olympics," said Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken, who is visiting Australia.
The Beijing Games end on February 20.
"Simply put, we continue to see very worrying signs of Russian escalation, including the arrival of new forces at the Ukrainian border," Blinken said.
With concern spreading in the international community, Japan and the Netherlands also asked their citizens on Friday to leave Ukraine immediately.
The Dutch diplomatic mission will be withdrawn from Kiev and moved away from the Russian border to Lviv in western Ukraine.
Russia has already massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, and this week began joint military exercises in neighboring Belarus and naval exercises in the Black Sea.
Moscow denies plans to invade Ukraine, but says it may take unspecified "military-technical" measures unless a series of demands are met, including NATO's promises never to accept Ukraine and the withdrawal of troops from Eastern Europe.
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