President Joe Biden believes Russia will conduct an invasion of Ukraine within a matter of days.
As he departed the White House on Thursday, Biden was asked, “How high is the threat of a Russian invasion right now?”
“It’s very high,” he responded.
He explained that Russia has not pulled troops back from near Ukraine’s border despite its claims and has instead continued its troop build-up. He also said the U.S. believes Russia is “engaged in a false flag operation to have an excuse to go in.”
“Every indication we have is that they are prepared to go into Ukraine. Attack Ukraine,” Biden added.
Finally, he said his “sense” is that an invasion will occur “in the next several days.”
Biden also said he has “no plans” to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Watch the video below:
Q: "How high is the threat of a Russian invasion right now?"President Biden: "It's very high…every indication we have is they are prepared to go into Ukraine….Yes, my sense is it will happen within the next several days." pic.twitter.com/2xY3vkQemR
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 17, 2022
Earlier this week, Russian claimed it was pulling back some troops which appeared to offer a glimmer of hope that an attack could be averted.
However, Secretary of State Antony Blinken denied that Russia had decreased its troop presence on Wednesday and instead said it had added about 7,000 more troops to its build-up. Additionally, satellite images showed the construction of a military pontoon bridge in Belarus, just four miles from the Ukrainian border.
And Ukrainian forces were reportedly responding to artillery fire from Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country.
That comes after the shelling by Russian-back separatists reportedly hit a nursery school and injured three people.
Blinken was scheduled to speak at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Thursday morning about “Russia’s threat to peace and security.”