Joe Biden has warned Americans in Ukraine should leave the region now.
The US President said he would not send troops on a rescue mission if Russia invades.
“It’s not like we’re dealing with a terrorist organisation. We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. It’s a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly,” he told NBC.
Asked whether there were any scenarios that would prompt him to send troops to Ukraine to rescue Americans, the president said: “There’s not. That’s a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another.”
NATO also has stepped up military deployments to bolster its eastern flank, with the US sending troops to Poland and Romania.
A British Royal Air Force jet carrying 350 troops landed in Poland on Thursday after London sent anti-tank missiles to Ukraine to help boost its defences.
“We stand on the edge of a precipice and things are as dangerous as I have seen them in Europe for a very, very long time,” he said, adding that it’s up to Putin “to disengage and de-escalate.”
Johnson, who later flew to Warsaw to meet with Poland’s prime minister, said he believes President Vladimir Putin has not yet decided what he might do with Ukraine, adding that the West must use “sanctions and military resolve plus diplomacy.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov set a stern tone for his talks in Moscow with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who again warned Russia that attacking its neighbour would “have massive consequences and carry severe costs”.
Lavrov rejected Western worries about the Russian troop buildup as “sheer propaganda” and noted that Moscow won’t stand for lectures.
He claimed speaking to Liz Truss was like “the deaf talking to the blind”.
“Ideological approaches, ultimatums and moralising is a road to nowhere,” he said
