The US has instructed families of its government employees in Belarus to leave the country, the State Department said, hours after Washington and Moscow clashed over Ukraine at the UN Security Council.
The State Department announced the order in a travel advisory issued on Monday.
It also warned Americans not to travel to Belarus “due to the arbitrary enforcement of laws, the risk of detention, and unusual and concerning Russian military build-up along Belarus's border with Ukraine.”
America also accused Russia on Monday of planning to build its military force in its ally Belarus to 30,000 within weeks.
The US and Britain said they are prepared to punish Russian elites close to President Vladimir Putin with asset freezes and travel bans if Russia enters Ukraine, as tensions also spilled over at the UN.
Russia has stationed more than 100,000 troops on its border with Ukraine, sending tensions soaring with intense efforts by Nato allies to deter an invasion.
Moscow has also already sent some 5,000 troops to Belarus, the US said.
“We've seen evidence that Russia intends to expand that presence to more than 30,000 troops near the Belarus border” with Ukraine by early February, US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council on Monday, noting that the forces would be “less than two hours north of Kiev”.
Her Russian counterpart, Vassily Nebenza, rejected the allegations and said that the troops in Belarus were there for joint exercises.
He said Washington was engaging “in hysterics” by calling the council meeting held on Monday.
Mr Nebenza said no Russian official had threatened to invade the former Soviet republic and that Ukrainians were being “brainwashed” by the “Russiaphobia” of the West.
