Kirby: ‘No Active Planning’ for Non-Combatant Evacuation of Americans from Ukraine

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby stated that there is “no active planning going on” for a non-combatant evacuation of American citizens in Ukraine and there’s “plenty of time for Americans that are living in Ukraine to leave Ukraine.”

Host Wolf Blitzer asked, “If Russia were to invade Ukraine, is there a U.S. contingency plan to send U.S. troops into Ukraine to get…about the 30,000 American citizens out?”

Kirby responded, “There’s no active planning going on for what we would call a non-combatant evacuation inside Ukraine. There’s no design to do that right now. There is plenty of time for Americans that are living in Ukraine to leave Ukraine. And certainly, the State Department has made clear, they don’t want Americans to go to Ukraine now. The president himself has said if you’re in Ukraine, you should think about leaving. And there [are] plenty of ways and vehicles and transportation opportunities available for you to do that safely right now.”

Blitzer then asked, “So you want them to get out right away?”

Kirby answered, “That’s right. There’s — this is really not a good time for American citizens to be in Ukraine, and we have actively encouraged people to leave.”

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