Boris Johnson cites 'a dangerous moment' in Ukraine crisis

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday the Ukraine crisis has grown into “the most dangerous moment” for Europe in decades, while his top diplomat held icy talks with her Moscow counterpart who said the Kremlin won’t accept lectures from the West. NATO also has stepped up military deployments to bolster its eastern flank, with the US sending troops to Poland and Romania. A British Royal Air Force jet carrying 350 troops landed Thursday in Poland in a move that followed London sending anti-tank missiles to Ukraine to help boost its defenses.

Johnson said at NATO headquarters in Brussels that he believes President Vladimir Putin has not yet decided what he might do with Ukraine, adding that the West must use “sanctions and military resolve plus diplomacy." Johnson told British broadcaster that if the Russians “want less NATO on their western borders, as it were, this is exactly the wrong way to go about it.” “We stand on the edge of a precipice and things are as dangerous as I have seen them in Europe for a very, very long time," he said, adding that it's up to Putin "to disengage and de-escalate.”

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden on Thursday urged American citizens to leave Ukraine immediately, and warned about potential major conflict with Moscow should US and Russian troops engage each other on the ground. "We're dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. This is a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly," the president said. Biden also 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. Western leaders have been conducting shuttle diplomacy in an effort to ease frayed nerves. But Biden's comments -- and the State Department also on Thursday renewing its warning for Americans citizens to leave -- are almost certain to ramp up tensions anew. Biden however dismissed the scenario of having to rescue Americans in Ukraine, saying "how do you even find them?"