Zürcher Nachrichten - US says Russia could attack Ukraine 'any day' in escalation of alarm

EUR -
AED 4.298308
AFN 81.92842
ALL 98.084438
AMD 449.658082
ANG 2.094583
AOA 1073.261444
ARS 1468.279515
AUD 1.797333
AWG 2.106729
AZN 1.991668
BAM 1.950584
BBD 2.361684
BDT 142.702048
BGN 1.952874
BHD 0.441244
BIF 3442.161504
BMD 1.170405
BND 1.495414
BOB 8.082386
BRL 6.37672
BSD 1.169772
BTN 100.183093
BWP 15.616838
BYN 3.827896
BYR 22939.94066
BZD 2.349537
CAD 1.601886
CDF 3377.78954
CHF 0.933357
CLF 0.02875
CLP 1103.282348
CNY 8.396545
CNH 8.408618
COP 4742.04856
CRC 591.323751
CUC 1.170405
CUP 31.015736
CVE 110.718148
CZK 24.646426
DJF 208.0043
DKK 7.461362
DOP 70.350158
DZD 151.75855
EGP 58.145374
ERN 17.556077
ETB 159.672582
FJD 2.63493
FKP 0.862316
GBP 0.862764
GEL 3.171819
GGP 0.862316
GHS 12.166116
GIP 0.862316
GMD 83.688631
GNF 10131.027064
GTQ 8.990189
GYD 244.728101
HKD 9.187663
HNL 30.84028
HRK 7.530413
HTG 153.519463
HUF 400.091736
IDR 19027.510373
ILS 3.917797
IMP 0.862316
INR 100.486011
IQD 1533.230728
IRR 49303.316231
ISK 142.964601
JEP 0.862316
JMD 186.69553
JOD 0.829797
JPY 172.183562
KES 151.572338
KGS 102.35198
KHR 4706.199287
KMF 492.135958
KPW 1053.33889
KRW 1609.04963
KWD 0.357653
KYD 0.974835
KZT 607.784679
LAK 25222.230108
LBP 104868.299941
LKR 351.638671
LRD 234.666446
LSL 20.82134
LTL 3.455902
LVL 0.707966
LYD 6.317227
MAD 10.539461
MDL 19.797818
MGA 5184.89504
MKD 61.456221
MMK 2457.274227
MNT 4200.068068
MOP 9.458292
MRU 46.470981
MUR 52.797044
MVR 18.017904
MWK 2032.412478
MXN 21.795138
MYR 4.979492
MZN 74.859293
NAD 20.821752
NGN 1792.545747
NIO 43.012461
NOK 11.837998
NPR 160.294714
NZD 1.958001
OMR 0.450015
PAB 1.169682
PEN 4.148497
PGK 4.827984
PHP 66.236151
PKR 332.687497
PLN 4.243969
PYG 9322.309495
QAR 4.260981
RON 5.080258
RSD 117.17157
RUB 91.876031
RWF 1678.360965
SAR 4.389513
SBD 9.757579
SCR 16.795029
SDG 702.829472
SEK 11.168743
SGD 1.499763
SHP 0.919755
SLE 26.33756
SLL 24542.814783
SOS 668.884838
SRD 43.683615
STD 24225.023271
SVC 10.234892
SYP 15217.759559
SZL 20.821484
THB 38.256993
TJS 11.235231
TMT 4.108122
TND 3.388456
TOP 2.741205
TRY 46.869412
TTD 7.935846
TWD 34.069936
TZS 3090.09425
UAH 48.858496
UGX 4204.755761
USD 1.170405
UYU 46.96561
UZS 14893.405655
VES 131.422218
VND 30603.168287
VUV 139.633925
WST 3.222549
XAF 654.218686
XAG 0.032033
XAU 0.000356
XCD 3.163078
XDR 0.812997
XOF 651.915763
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.061714
ZAR 20.832029
ZMK 10535.048293
ZMW 28.335227
ZWL 376.869976
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

US says Russia could attack Ukraine 'any day' in escalation of alarm
US says Russia could attack Ukraine 'any day' in escalation of alarm

US says Russia could attack Ukraine 'any day' in escalation of alarm

The United States dramatically raised the alarm Friday over Ukraine, warning that a Russian invasion starting with civilians caught under aerial bombing could start in days and telling US citizens to leave within 48 hours.

Text size:

An attack by the more than 100,000 Russian troops currently massed next to Ukraine "could occur any day now," White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters in Washington.

Dismissing speculation that the Kremlin would never trigger the crisis while the Beijing Olympics were still underway in close Russian ally China, Sullivan said such an attack "could occur" before the Games end on February 20.

The scenario of an imminent attack is "a very, very distinct possibility," Sullivan said.

While stressing that it was not yet known whether President Vladimir Putin had taken a decision, saying "we can't predict the exact determination," Sullivan made clear that the United States was bracing for the worst, including a "rapid assault" on the capital Kyiv.

"If a Russian attack on Ukraine proceeds, it is likely to begin with aerial bombing and missile attacks that could obviously kill civilians," he said. "Any American in Ukraine should leave as soon as possible, and in any event in the next 24 to 48 hours."

Sullivan spoke shortly after Biden and six European leaders, the heads of NATO and the European Union held talks on the worst crisis between the West and Russia since the end of the Cold War.

A US official said Biden would speak with Putin on Saturday, while the French government said that President Emmanuel Macron would also be calling the Russian leader on Saturday.

Underlining the bleak outlook, a string of countries joined the exodus of diplomats and citizens from Ukraine, while oil prices surged and US equities tumbled.

- Western, NATO unity -

Sullivan repeated warnings that Russia risks severe Western sanctions and said that NATO, which Putin wants to push back from eastern Europe, is now "more cohesive, more purposeful, more dynamic than any time in recent memory."

The Pentagon announced it was sending 3,000 more troops to bolster ally Poland.

Following the group phone call between US and European leaders, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's spokesman said "the aim is to prevent a war in Europe." But if Moscow fails to pull back, "the allies are determined to jointly take swift and deep sanctions against Russia."

These sanctions would target the financial and energy sectors, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said.

- Russia surrounding Ukraine -

Russian naval forces and troops, including units brought in from all over the vast country, now surround Ukraine to the south, east and north.

Russia, which denies any plan to attack Ukraine, already controls the Crimea territory seized in 2014 and supports separatist forces controling Ukraine's Donbass region in the east.

The Kremlin says its goal is to get NATO to agree to never give Ukraine membership and also to withdraw from eastern European countries already in the alliance, effectively carving Europe into Cold War-style spheres of influence. The United States and its European allies reject the demands, insisting that NATO poses no threat to Russia.

Adding to tensions, large-scale Russian military drills were underway Friday with authoritarian ally Belarus, which lies just north of Kyiv and also borders the European Union.

Russia's defense ministry said Friday it was also holding military exercises near Ukraine's border in the Black Sea.

According to the head of Norway's military intelligence service, Russia is operationally ready to conduct a wide range of military operations in Ukraine and the Kremlin just needs to make the call.

The top US general and his Russian counterpart talked Friday by phone, the Pentagon said, giving no details of the discussion.

And the European Union said its non-essential staff should leave Ukraine, while Israel said families of its diplomats were being pulled out. Norway joined Britain in telling its nationals to leave.

- Shuttle diplomacy -

The growing alarm comes despite efforts at shuttle diplomacy by European officials.

Macron visited both Moscow and Kyiv earlier this week and Scholz is expected to do the same in the coming days. Scholz will also hold his first in-person meeting with Putin in Moscow.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace was in Moscow Friday for rare talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.

He was accompanied by the UK's Chief of Defense Staff Tony Radakin, and the pair will also meet Russia's top army general Valery Gerasimov.

Wallace's visit comes a day after Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss met with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow for talks that appeared fruitless and ended in mutual recriminations.

There was also disappointment after a separate meeting between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, under the mediation of Germany and France. Sources described the meeting as "difficult."

In some of his starkest comments yet, Biden told NBC News on Thursday that Americans should exit Ukraine because "we're dealing with one of the largest armies in the world" and "things could go crazy quickly."

L.Zimmermann--NZN