The talks took place as a foreign ministry ordered all family members of US Embassy staff in Kyiv to leave Ukraine, citing threats of Russian military action, and also allowed some embassy employees to leave, according to senior State Department officials who briefed reporters on Sunday. The officials, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, declined to say how many embassy staff and their families were in the country. Reducing US embassy staff is a common precaution in the event of conflict or other crises that could endanger US diplomats.
At his press conference last week, Biden said he warned Putin that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would prompt Washington to send more troops to the region.
“We’re actually going to increase the troop presence in Poland, Romania, etc. if he actually moves,” Biden said. “They are part of NATO.”
In a phone call this month, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III warned. his Russian counterpart, Sergey Shoygu, that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would most likely result in exactly the troop build-up Mr. Biden currently envisions.
At the time of the call — Jan. 6 — the Biden administration was still trying to moderate its stance on Ukraine. But after unsuccessful talks between Mr Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday, the government is considering a tougher stance that includes not only diplomatic options like sanctions, but also military options like increased military support for Ukrainian forces and US deployment troops in the region.
“This is clearly in response to the sudden deployment of Russian forces in Belarus, essentially on the border with NATO,” said Evelyn Farkas, the Pentagon’s senior representative for Russia and Ukraine under Barack Obama’s administration. “It is impossible that in this political context NATO cannot react to such a sudden military move. The Kremlin must understand that all these operations are only making the situation worse and increasing the danger for everyone involved, including themselves.
A former senior Pentagon official on European and NATO policy, Jim Townsend, said the government’s proposal does not go far enough.
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