MOSCOW: COUNTDOWN UNDERWAY, US SENDS SECURITY TEAMS TO AID IN EVAC

The State Department has quietly sent special operations teams into Kyiv to help with a potential diplomatic evacuation, sources told Just the News, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday rebuffed pleas from Ukraine to impose preemptive sanctions against a bellicose Russia.

The teams arrived last week, shortly before U.S. Embassy families were ordered to begin evacuating Ukraine, said the sources, who have direct knowledge of the events.

“This means that they’re anticipating violence or complete deterioration in short order,” said former Diplomatic Security Service Special Agent Dale McElhattan, who has taken part in diplomatic evacuations.

International tension has spiked recently as Russia maintains an estimated 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine and has issued ominous statements about “the start of a countdown” and claims that Moscow is being “provoked.”

Moscow has not explained why it launched a “countdown,” nor what awaits at the end. The Kremlin claims to be rankled over the proposition that Ukraine would join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, even though Ukraine likely would not be admitted into the alliance.

Alarm bells sounded in the West last week when Konstantin Gavrilov, who leads the Russian delegation at the Vienna Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control, issued a stark warning.

“There arrives a moment of truth when the West either accepts our proposals or other ways will be found to safeguard Russia’s security,” Gavrilov said. “I am convinced that with goodwill and a willingness to compromise in any situation, it is possible to find a way out to mutually acceptable solutions. We are running out of time. The countdown begins.”

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