Biden says Americans in Ukraine ‘should leave now’ as diplomatic talks falter – live | US news

The process to distribute the funds from Da Afghanistan Bank to humanitarian efforts and families affected by terrorism is likely to be long and arduous, as legal battles over the money unfold.

But some American families affected by terrorism have said that all of the $7bn should go to humanitarian projects in Afghanistan, where the country’s economic collapse has spurred widespread starvation and a looming refugee crisis.

Barry Amundson, who lost his brother Craig in the September 11 attacks and now belongs to the group September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, said the policy would unfairly punish innocent Afghans.

“I can’t think of a worse betrayal of the people of Afghanistan than to freeze their assets and give it to 9/11 families,” Amundson told the New York Times.

“While 9/11 families are seeking justice for their loss through these suits, I fear that the end result of seizing this money will be to cause further harm to innocent Afghans who have already suffered greatly.”

Joe Biden has signed an executive order to allocate $7bn in frozen funds to humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan and Americans affected by terrorism, including families of September 11 victims.

The order involves assets held by Afghanistan’s central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank, in the US. Biden’s directive calls for those funds to be consolidated into an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The US president is calling for $3.5bn in DAB funds to be allocated for “the benefit of the Afghan people and for Afghanistan’s future,” as the country faces the threat of massive famine following the Taliban takeover.

According to the executive order, even with the allocation of funds for humanitarian projects in Afghanistan, there will still be more than $3.5bn in DAB assets left for US families who have been affected by terrorism and have filed lawsuits against the Taliban. Some of those families lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks.

“This is one step forward in the United States’ effort to authorize the transfer of a significant portion of the funds to meet the needs of the Afghan people,” the White House said in its fact sheet about the order.

“The E.O. is designed to provide a path for the funds to reach the people of Afghanistan, while keeping them out of the hands of the Taliban and malicious actors.”

Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will join press secretary Jen Psaki at the daily White House briefing this afternoon.

Sullivan is expected to provide an update on the diplomatic efforts to deescalate tensions in Ukraine, following Biden’s virtual meeting this morning with leaders of several allied nations.

The secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could come at any moment, as Vladimir Putin has amassed more than 100,000 military personnel along Ukrainian borders.

“We’re in a window when an invasion could begin at any time – and to be clear, that includes during the Olympics,” Blinken said in Melbourne today.

US officials had previously argued that Putin would likely wait until after the Beijing Olympics to stage an invasion, out of concern for his ally, Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Joe Biden will speak to the leaders of allied nations this morning to continue their discussions about the escalating crisis in Ukraine, the White House has confirmed.

The White House told the press pool that Biden will hold an 11am ET call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The leaders will “discuss our shared concerns about Russia’s continued buildup of military forces around Ukraine and continued coordination on both diplomacy and deterrence,” the White House said.

Trudeau’s office had already indicated the virtual meeting would be taking place, although it did not appear on Biden’s original schedule released by the White House last night.

The call comes as Biden has urged all Americans to leave Ukraine out of concern of a potential Russian invasion, and talks with the Kremlin have so far failed to deescalate tensions.

When Emmanuel Macron visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, the French president refused to take a coronavirus test requested by the Kremlin out of fear of the Russians obtaining his DNA.

“We knew very well that meant no handshake and that long table. But we could not accept that they get their hands on the president’s DNA,” one of Macron’s aides told Reuters.

Macron’s refusal meant that the two leaders held their talks on the crisis in Ukraine at a 13-foot-long table to maintain distance from each other.

The set-up attracted widespread mockery on social media, and it prompted questions about whether Putin was using the comical situation to send a message about his refusal to back down in Ukraine.

But Putin’s spokesperson insisted the decision was merely meant to protect the Russian president’s health because of Macron’s refusal to take a test.

“There is no politics in this, it does not interfere with negotiations in any way,” Dmitry Peskov said, per Reuters.

Joe Biden is not expected to make any public appearance until this afternoon, when he leaves the White House to travel to Camp David for the weekend.

But according to the office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Biden is hosting a meeting with several other leaders to discuss the escalating crisis in Ukraine.

Trudeau’s schedule indicates that the virtual meeting will also be attended by the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the UK, the EU and Nato.

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Joe Biden sent an urgent message to Americans in Ukraine yesterday, urging them to leave the country because “things could go crazy quickly” if Russia moves forward with an invasion.

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

Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to deescalate tensions along Ukraine’s border, where Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops, have not yet resulted in a peaceful resolution.

The AP reports:

Britain’s defense secretary visited Moscow Friday for talks on easing tensions amid massive Russian war games near Ukraine.

Ben Wallace’s trip comes a day after British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss held talks in Moscow, urging Russia to pull back over 100,000 troops amassed near Ukraine and warning that attacking its neighbor would ‘have massive consequences and carry severe costs.’

Russia says it has no plans to invade Ukraine but wants the West to keep Ukraine and other former Soviet countries out of NATO. It also wants NATO to refrain from deploying weapons there and roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe — demands flatly rejected by the West.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.