US and allies tell citizens to leave Ukraine as Russia could invade

The United States and its allies urged their citizens on Saturday to leave Ukraine right away to avoid a Russian invasion, including a possible air assault, that Washington said on Friday could occur anytime.

Moscow accused Western nations of spreading lies to distract from their own aggressive acts, Reuters reported.

Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops on the Ukraine border but denies it plans to invade.

US officials, while pressing for diplomacy, said Russia could invade before the conclusion of the Winter Olympics on February 20 and may seek to seize the capital Kyiv and other cities.

Australia and New Zealand became the latest countries to urge their citizens to leave as soon as possible, joining Britain, Japan, Latvia, Norway and the Netherlands. Israel said it was evacuating relatives of embassy staff, Reuters reported.

Russia said it has “optimised” its diplomatic staff numbers in Ukraine, fearing “provocations” by Kyiv or another party, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry said on Saturday.

Maria Zakharova did not say whether that meant a reduction in staff numbers but said the embassy and consulates in Ukraine continued to perform their key functions.