Posted on 01/24/2022 5:34:57 AM PST by Red Badger
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."
Neither Gavrilov nor the Russian Foreign Ministry responded to questions from Just the News regarding the comments.
Officials in Ukraine have asked the United States not to wait for an attack before responding, but to impose sanctions now against Russia.
Blinken said Sunday that preemptive sanctions would undermine Western leverage.
"When it comes to sanctions, the purpose of those sanctions is to deter Russian aggression," Blinken told CNN's State of the Union program.
"So if they're triggered now, you lose the deterrent effect," Blinken said. "All of the things that we're doing, including building up in a united way with Europe, massive consequences for Russia, is designed to factor into President [Vladimir] Putin's calculus and to deter and dissuade them from taking aggressive action, even as we pursue diplomacy at the same time."
Last week, however, shortly after Gavrilov made his remarks, the State Department ordered diplomatic families to evacuate Ukraine and sent in the special operations teams.
"I am not saying definitely that they are related, but you can deduce what you will from the timeline," said one diplomatic source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
The special operations teams signal grave diplomatic concern, McElhattan said.
"It is serious," he said, noting that the teams typically are deployed during times of political instability, transnational terrorism, indigenous terrorism, or high crime.
"It's not like they predict something's going to happen in 72 or 96 hours," McElhattan added. "But they want to be prepared, should hostilities start out."
The Mobile Security Deployment [MSD] teams would assist with an orderly departure of U.S. diplomatic personnel.
"Anytime there's something going on in the news, there's pretty likely there's an MSD team in the background somewhere ready to respond," said one unidentified agent who appeared in a July recruiting video. "With MSD literally anything could happen at any time."
Russia consistently has denied that it plans to invade Ukraine.
The U.S. is tracking "intensely hour by hour and certainly day by day" the situation in Kyiv, Blinken said on Sunday.
Thanks Pedo Joe!! How many MILLIONS is Russia paying the Biden CRIME FAMILY for UKRAINE???
Case Red, or alluding to the past disorders, Case Orange.
The EU members are not evacuating their embassies. They know this is just Biden trying to act tough. The danger though, is Biden will actually drag us all into a war.
Our Intelligence Community gaslighting the US public again.
Whatever Biden does will turn out to be a disaster - Democrats have no clue.
Yup. You would think folks, especially Freepers, would know when they're being emotionally whipped up into a frenzy after the last 6 years, but here we are, FauXi's amen corner rushing to consume the fear porn over two countries that are really none of our damned business.
It’s Hitler/Chamberlain/Czechoslovakia all over again. Putin is assuring us he has no further territorial ambitions in Europe beyond this one little slice of Ukraine heavily populated by Russians, Biden is promising “peace in our time”, and Europe is so keen to avoid war (gas pipeline disruptions in this case) that they will pretend not to notice whatever comes next.
Wrong war, wrong time, wrong place. Just as I expected.
What will Joe do when the first shot is fired? NOTHING.
But you can damn sure count on the price of oil/gas going through the roof.
Wait 'til he sees what American hostages can do for Western leverage.
Oh, it's probably just a display of 100% confidence.
Our deep state and
the DNC are grateful for the diversion from the total failure of the and sexuality obsessed, crime-loving, utterly corrupt administration after so much effort and billions spent to jettison and taint the brief America First, common sense, administration via a shady, covid obscured, lawless election and ballot counting.
Race and sexuality obsessed.
Not OUR border, silly.
“Case Red, or alluding to the past disorders, Case Orange.”
Fall Blau didn’t work out so well for the Germans.
“The EU members are not evacuating their embassies. They know this is just Biden trying to act tough. The danger though, is Biden will actually drag us all into a war.”
All of what you say is accurate.
The Dementia Joe plan to bring chaos and confusion and pain and agony to the world is working beautifully.
It’s not Biden. More likely Obama and the deep staters.
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