Washington: US President Joe Biden urged Americans on Thursday to immediately leave Ukraine as Russia’s live fire drills and build-up of troops around the ex-Soviet state deepened fears of an invasion.

Joe Biden in a pre-taped interview with a news channel said that American citizens should leave Ukraine now, Washington-Moscow tensions are at their highest since the Cold War, with some US estimates saying some 130,000 Russian soldiers are grouped in dozens of combat brigades near the border with Ukraine, he said. We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. It’s a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly, he added.

US President reiterated that under no circumstances would he send US troops to Ukraine; even to rescue Americans in case of a Russian invasion. That’s a world war. When Americans and Russians start shooting one another, we’re in a very different world, he said. Biden’s remarks were released hours after Russia rolled its tanks across Belarus for live-fire drills that drew an ominous warning from NATO and added urgency to Western efforts to avert war on the continent.