like. as you also point out, the statement about the opening of the embassy in lviv. that in and of itself has security discussions around it, especially as you see russia striking railway stations in central and eastern ukraine. an embassy presence in lviv will require its own security even as ukraine has to provide some of that security. but it also comes with additional considerations because it remains an active war zone. do you need search and rescue capability? do you need a rapid response force? all of that goes into these deliberations. of course, the statement that the u.s. will try to open an embassy or diplomatic presence in kyiv sooner or later when the situation allows. it shows u.s. and partner allies remain engaged and we ll see more tomorrow with the discussion on what ukraine needs not only for the short-term fight, to stay in the fight, to beat back russia s offensive. in terms of longer-term capabilities to secure its own sovereignty. this will be a very important
moment. the u.s. over the course the weekend has drawn down its embassy presence, evacuating most nonemergency personnel from the embassy in kyiv. they are also warning americans to depart the country immediately, saying it is pastime for americans to get out of ukraine. the u.s. is warning that they will not be conducted an american military mission to evacuate american citizens if an invasion occurs. going forward, president biden and his team plan to remain in contact with russia in the coming days as the threat of an invasion looms. but officials are warning that they also believe while they are conducting, while they are trying to stay in contact with russia, it is still very possible that putin moves forward with an attack. for more on the situation on the ground in ukraine, we re joined by cnn s sam kiley in the city of harkiv near the russian
and the u.s. has also said they are ready to offer defense support to the country of ukraine. right now the national security adviser jake sullivan has said that ukraine russia could attack ukraine at any moment, but ultimately, the white house still is hoping that there might be some way to achieve a de-escalation through diplomacy. but the white house has also been clear to say that they are clear-eyed about russia s military moves, that the maneuvering that they ve seen, the positioning of troops around ukraine do hint that there is a distinct possibility russia may move forward with an invasion. one thing of utmost importance to the administration at this moment is ensuring the safety of american citizens. the u.s. has drawn down most of its embassy presence in ukraine, evacuating non-emergency personnel, and they ve also encouraged americans to depart the country immediately, including a direct message from
to show de-escalation, which is what the u.s. is seeking in this moment. now, the u.s. over the course of the weekend has drawn down its embassy presence, evacuating most non-emergency personnel from the embassy in kyiv, and they are also warning americans to depart the country immediately, saying it is past time for americans to get out of ukraine. the u.s. is warning that they will not be conducting an american military mission to evacuate american citizens if an invasion occurs. now, going forward, president biden and his team plan to remain in contact with russia in the coming days as the threat of an invasion looms, but officials are warning, they also believe, while they are conducting and trying to stay in contact with russia, it is still very possible that putin moves forward with an attack. arlette saenz, cnn, the white house. and cnn s sam kylie joins us
bagram impossible and would everybody in the pentagon agree with that rationale? it s not just impossible, it was counter to the mission and the order that they were given. okay, so, the military was given the order to withdraw all u.s. troops from afghanistan pie a certain date. first september 11th and then august 31st. the only military presence supposed to be on the ground there was defending the embassy. when the military leaders particularly general miller looked at that and said, okay, well, i need somewhere between 600 to 800 u.s. troops to defend the embassy, we re going to have to have an airport. as part of an embassy presence you need to do have a safe airport to do an evacuation from. kabul airport is much closer to the airport than bagram was and that made the sense to keep security presence there to maintain a safe airport. it wasn t something, again, as