National security adviser Jake Sullivan downplayed comparisons of the Russia-Ukraine hostilities to the lead-up to the war in Iraq, even while issuing a stark warning that Russian forces could invade in less than 10 days’ time.
Sullivan, appearing alongside White House press secretary Jen Psaki at Friday’s briefing, told reporters that there is a “fundamental distinction between the situation in Iraq and the situation today.”
SULLIVAN TELLS AMERICANS TO GET OUT OF UKRAINE IN NEXT 24 TO 48 HOURS
“In the situation in Iraq, intelligence was used and deployed from this very podium to start a war. We are trying to stop a war, to prevent a war, to win, to avert a war,” he stated. “All we can do is come here before you in good faith and share everything that we know, to the best of our ability while protecting sources and methods.”
Sullivan claimed a second difference was the “more than 100,000 Russian troops amassed along the Ukrainian border, with every capacity out there in the open for people to see.”
“If you look at the course of the past few months, as we have said, we predicted there will be a build-up of this kind,” he continued. “Our information is telling us that the Russians are likely to move in these ways. Thus far in November, in December, in January, that has borne out, so I think when you take all of that together, we put forward a credible case.”
Earlier in the briefing, Sullivan had, in the starkest terms possible, urged any Americans currently in Ukraine to leave in the next 24 to 48 hours and to contact the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv if they need fiscal assistance leaving the country. He also affirmed earlier reports that the United States had determined a Russian invasion of Ukraine could take place before the end of the Olympics on Feb. 20.
Biden administration officials have been pressed to share the intelligence behind some of their assertions about Russian intentions. The unsuccessful search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq helped fuel skepticism of intelligence claims.
Troops have been deployed to Europe to fortify NATO allies, but not to fight the Russians if they invade Ukraine.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
You can watch Friday’s entire briefing below.
