February 14, 2022: -President Joe Biden has issued a warning that U.S. citizens should leave Ukraine immediately as tensions with Russia over its military activity intensify.

“American citizens should leave. Leave now,” Biden told NBC on Thursday night. “We’re dealing with one of the new armies in the world. This is a very different situation, and things could go crazy quickly.”

Russia started a 10-day program of military exercises with its neighbor Belarus on Thursday. NATO nearly estimates 30,000 Russian troops were taking part, marking Moscow’s most significant military deployment in Belarus since the Cold War.

According to NBC News, the drills, widely seen as a display of strength by Russia, come as around 130,000 soldiers, tanks, missiles, and fresh blood supplies have been moved to its border with Ukraine. Russia demands that Ukraine never be permitted to become a member of the NATO military alliance. It wants the organization to roll back its presence in Eastern Europe.

Russia has insisted it has zero plans to invade Ukraine. On Thursday, Ukraine also accused Russia of creating a sea blockade, the BBC reported. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reportedly said the Sea of Azov was utterly congested. At the same time, the Black Sea was being blocked by Russian forces as they prepared for naval drills in the coming week.

Despite the mounting tensions, Biden on Thursday ruled out sending U.S. troops into Ukraine, which says that there was no scenario where he could see this happening. 

“That’s a world war when Americans and Russians start shooting at one another. We’re in a different world than we’ve been in,” he said.

Biden added that it would be difficult to position troops in Ukraine, even evacuate U.S. citizens.

“How do you do that? How do you even find them?” he said. “I’m hoping that if foolish enough to go in, he’s smart enough not to do anything that would negatively impact on American citizens.”