Russia is planning to send its troops into Ukraine by mid-week, an intelligence report has claimed.
Western leaders have been on edge for weeks as they try to negotiate with Moscow, while more than 100,000 Russian troops stand ready at Ukraine’s border.
Vladimir Putin may well give them the green light in less than five days, German newspaper Der Spiegel reported.
The outlet cites information handed to intelligence services, including the Secret Service and the CIA, as its source.
The information is reportedly very detailed, down to the routes each attack will take.
US president Joe Biden is set to go into talks with Putin at 4pm UK time to try and resolve the crisis.
But multiple European nations, and the US, have been trying to deal with the conflict diplomatically for some time now – seemingly with no success.
The Kremlin previously said NATO was not listening to their security concerns about the alliance spreading too far eastwards.
Among other demands, Putin wants legally-binding reassurances that Ukraine will not be able to join NATO and then use its military power to take back Crimea – Ukrainian land Russia annexed in 2014.
He went as far as to threaten nuclear war if the territory was clawed back in this way.
But NATO leaders believe sovereign countries such as Ukraine have the right to choose their alliances without interference from world powers.
Tensions have only escalated since the start of the saga and things came to a head yesterday – when both the US and the UK told any citizens in Ukraine to leave.
The Foreign Office said last night: ‘The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority.
‘We urge British nationals in Ukraine to leave now via commercial means while they remain available.’
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Britain confirmed it would not send troops to Ukraine if Russia decided to invade, suggesting there may no military evacuation like there was in Afghanistan last year.
Armed forces minister James Heappey told Sky News: There will be no British troops in Ukraine if there is any conflict with Russia.
‘British nationals in Ukraine should leave immediately by any means possible.
‘They should not expect as they saw in the summer with Afghanistan, that there will be any possibility of a military evacuation, they should leave now.’
The warning came hours after U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said: ‘We encourage all American citizens who remain in Ukraine to depart immediately.
‘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.
‘The risk is now high enough and the threat is now immediate enough that this is what prudence demands.
‘If you stay you are assuming risk, with no guarantee that there will be any other opportunity to leave and there is no prospect of a U.S. military evacuation in the event of a Russian invasion.’
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