Alwaght- The US advised on Sunday its citizens to consider leaving Russia immediately after Putin put the country’s nuclear deterrence forces on “high alert.”
“An increasing number of airlines are canceling flights into and out of Russia, and numerous countries have closed their airspace to Russian airlines. US citizens should consider departing Russia immediately via commercial options still available,” the US State Department said.
The US last month warned American nationals against traveling to Russia because of escalating tensions between Washington and Moscow as well as “the potential for harassment against US citizens, the embassy’s limited ability to assist US citizens in Russia” and “harassment by Russian government security officials.”
In response to aggressive statements by NATO’s leading members, Putin said he had ordered “the deterrence forces of the Russian army to a special mode of combat duty.”
The Biden administration condemned Putin’s order and senior Republicans called for a new round of sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki described Russia’s nuclear deterrence announcement as an example of Putin “manufacturing threats that don’t exist in order to justify further aggression.”
“At no point has Russia been under threat from NATO, has Russia been under threat from Ukraine, this is all a pattern from President Putin. And we’re going to stand up for it. We have the ability to defend ourselves, but we also need to call out what we’re seeing here from President Putin,” Psaki said.
US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Putin of “continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable.”
“We have to continue to condemn his actions in ... the strongest possible way,” she added.
Meanwhile several senior Republicans, including Senator Tom Cotton, an anti-Russia hawk, called on Biden to issue a new round of sanctions targeting Russia’s oil and gas exports.
“It’s time for the president and some of our European partners to quit pussy-footing around. The financial sanctions announced last night are riddled with loopholes,” he told ABC News.
The Biden administration has already imposed harsh sanctions on Russia in response to Russia's military actions in Ukraine.
The White House has even announced the Biden administration will sanction Putin and other top government officials in Moscow.
Putin announced on Thursday a “special military operation” in Ukraine’s Donbas region to “defend people” subjected to "genocide" there against government forces, stressing that Moscow has “no plans to occupy Ukrainian territory.”
Biden called the Russian action an "unprovoked and unjustified attack," and the American media described it as the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two assault by Russia.
