Blinken says Russia could invade Ukraine during Olympics

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Russia could invade Ukraine during the current Beijing Olympics so Americans should leave the Eastern European country immediately. Blinken did not detail the reasons behind the State Department’s latest security alert that calls on all American citizens to leave Ukraine. He says the U.S. continues to see “very troubling signs of Russian escalation.” The  threat of war in Ukraine and a strengthened alliance between Russia and China were high on the agenda Friday when Blinken met his counterparts from India, Japan and Australia. The four nations form the “Quad,” a bloc of Indo-Pacific democracies created to counter China’s growing regional influence.