Washington: US President Joe Biden on Thursday said an attack was possible in “next several days,” adding that he had no plans to call President Vladimir Putin as fears grew of a Russian invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.
Biden said he had not yet read a new, written response from Russian President Vladimir Putin to US proposals for a diplomatic way out of the impasse.
Meanwhile state-run television showed columns of military hardware crossing a recently-constructed bridge connecting the peninsula to the Russian mainland. Ukrainians defied pressure from Moscow with a national show of flag-waving unity Wednesday, while the US warned that Russia had added as many as 7,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders despite Kremlin declarations that forces were being pulled back from the region.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing on Thursday that India has been supportive of an immediate de-escalation of tensions and resolution of the Ukraine crisis through sustained diplomatic dialogue. India does not have any immediate plan to evacuate its citizens from Ukraine and its focus has been on ensuring their safety rather than on anything “larger”, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated