The US warns of the risk of a Russian attack on Ukraine "within days"

President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that there is a high risk that Russia will attack Ukraine within days. Mr. Biden instructed Secretary of State Antony Blinken to go to the United Nations to attend the Security Council meeting, where Mr. Blinken said that Russian forces are preparing to attack Ukraine within days.

President Biden said that there are "all the signs" that Russia is planning to intervene in Ukraine.

"They have not removed any of the troops, they have sent more troops. We have reason to believe that they are engaging in an operation to create a pretext to intervene. All the signs show that they are ready to intervene in Ukraine, to attack Ukraine," said President Biden.

Mr. Biden instructed Secretary of State Antony Blinken to change his travel plans at the last minute to speak at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Ukraine. Mr. Blinken said that Russian forces are preparing to launch an attack on Ukraine.

"Russia says it is withdrawing its forces. We are not seeing that happening on the ground. "The information we have clearly shows that these forces, including ground troops and aircraft carriers, are preparing to launch an attack against Ukraine in the coming days," he said.

Mr. Blinken said that Moscow is preparing a pretext for attacking Ukraine.

"It could be a violent act for which Russia will blame Ukraine or a strong accusation that Russia could make against the Ukrainian government. We don't know exactly what form it will take. It could be a fabricated so-called terrorist attack inside Russia; a false claim of the discovery of a mass grave, or an orchestrated drone strike against civilians, or a false and possibly real chemical weapons attack,” Secretary Blinken said.

However, Secretary Blinken said the United States is committed to continuing diplomatic efforts and has asked Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for a meeting in Europe next week.

"Let me be clear, I am here today not to start a war, but to prevent it," Mr. Blinken said.

The Secretary of State said that the United States hopes that by sharing the information it has with the world, it can influence "Russia to abandon the path of war and choose another path while there is still time."

Meanwhile, the State Department said that Russia has ordered the deputy head of the US mission in Moscow, Bart Gorman, to leave the country.

The State Department described this measure as an "unprovoked" action and "an escalating step". Russia has not given details on why it is expelling Mr Gorman.