From the MT:
“U.S. Tells Families of Govt
Employees in Belarus to Leave”
(The U.S. Embassy in Belarus.)
The United States told the
families of its government employees in Belarus to leave the country, the State
Department said Monday, as fears grow of a Russian invasion of neighboring
Ukraine. The order came hours after Washington and Moscow clashed over Ukraine
at the UN Security Council, and after Washington threatened to slap sanctions
on wealthy Russian oligarchs if the ex-Soviet state is attacked. The U.S. also accused Russia Monday of
planning to build its military force in its ally Belarus to 30,000 within
weeks. The State Department
"ordered the departure of family members of U.S. government
employees" from Belarus, it said in a travel advisory issued Monday. It also warned Americans not to travel to
Belarus "due to the arbitrary enforcement of laws, the risk of detention,
and unusual and concerning Russian military buildup along Belarus’ border with
Ukraine."
Russia has massed more than
100,000 troops on its borders with Ukraine, sending tensions soaring with
intense efforts by NATO allies to deter an invasion. Moscow has also already
placed some 5,000 troops in Belarus, according to the U.S. "We've seen
evidence that Russia intends to expand that presence to more than 30,000 troops
near the Belarus border" with Ukraine by early February, U.S. Ambassador
Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council Monday, noting the forces
would be "less than two hours north of Kyiv." But her Russian
counterpart, Vassily Nebenza, rejected the allegations and said Washington was
engaging "in hysterics" by calling the Council meeting held Monday on
Ukraine. He said no Russian official had threatened to invade the former Soviet
republic and that Ukrainians were being "brainwashed" by the
"Russiaphobia" of the West. And he said that the troops in Belarus
were there for joint exercises.
^ I wonder if this latest move
has anything to do with the written response the Russian Government just gave
to the American Government. ^
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