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America on Monday instructed households of its authorities staff in Belarus to depart the nation amid fears of a attainable Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
The US State Division “ordered the departure of members of the family of US authorities staff” from Belarus, in keeping with a journey advisory issued Monday.
It additionally warned US residents to not journey to Belarus, citing “the arbitrary enforcement of legal guidelines, the danger of detention, and strange and regarding Russian army buildup alongside Belarus’ border with Ukraine.”
The order got here hours after Washington and Moscow clashed on the United Nations Safety Council over Ukraine.
The US accused Russia of planning to extend its troop presence in Belarus to 30,000 within the coming weeks, so as to add to the 100,000 it has moved close to the Ukrainian-Russian border.
Russian troops in Belarus
In response to the US, about 5,000 Russian troops are already in Belarus.
“We have seen proof that Russia intends to develop that presence to greater than 30,000 troops close to the Belarus border” with Ukraine by early February, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield stated throughout the Safety Council session.
She additionally stated the forces can be “lower than two hours north of [the Ukrainian capital] Kyiv.”
Washington referred to as Russia’s troop deployment on the border a “risk to worldwide peace and safety” and threatened to impose sanctions on rich Russian oligarchs if Ukraine have been attacked.
Moscow’s UN envoy Vassily Nebenza hit again, saying the US was participating “in hysterics” and referred to as the UN summit a “PR stunt.”
He added that the troops in Belarus have been there for joint army workouts.
In the meantime, Belarus denied that it was getting used as a staging floor for a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine have been rising regardless of ongoing high-level talks.
Russia responds to US letter
On Monday night, Russia despatched a written response to Washington’s proposals to deescalate tensions with Ukraine.
The US state division didn’t reveal the contents of the letter.
“It could be unproductive to barter in public, so we’ll go away it as much as Russia in the event that they wish to talk about their response,” a State Division spokesperson stated.
She added that Washington would proceed to seek the advice of its allies and companions, together with Ukraine.
Final week, the US authorities had despatched a letter to the Kremlin responding to its issues about safety in Europe.
Moscow has stated it has no plans to invade Ukraine however has demanded assurance from NATO to by no means permit Kyiv membership within the alliance.
Its different calls for embody rolling again NATO forces in Japanese Europe and ending the deployment of weapons close to Russia’s borders.
Each the White Home and NATO have rejected the core calls for as unreasonable, though Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov stated they’d made some attention-grabbing proposals on what he referred to as “secondary” points.
adi/msh (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
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