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(WASHINGTON) — With Sudan’s fragile transition to democracy derailed, the United States and Europe have issued a stark warning to the Sudanese military against appointing a new government “without the involvement of a broad range of civilian stakeholders.”

“Unilateral action to appoint a new Prime Minister and Cabinet would undermine those institutions’ credibility and risks plunging the nation into conflict,” Norway, the United Kingdom, the U.S. and the European Union said in a joint statement Tuesday. “In the absence of progress, we would look to accelerate efforts to hold those actors impeding the democratic process accountable.”

Sudan has been seen as a powerful example of democratic hope after a 2019 revolution forced the military’s overthrow of the Islamist regime of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, an alleged war criminal and former military officer who seized power of the North African nation in 1989. The popular uprising was marked by iconic images of protesters, especially women, going viral on social media and garnering support from celebrities around the world. After al-Bashir was ousted, Sudanese military and civilian leaders came together to form a transitional government and agreed on a 39-month process to return to democratic, civilian rule.

That progress came to a grinding halt on Oct. 25, 2021, when the military took power, dissolved the transitional government and expelled the civilian members. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was appointed by the transitional government in 2019, was placed under house arrest along with a number of other senior politicians. Mass protests as well as pressure from the international community, including the U.S. government withholding $700 million in economic aid, ushered in a deal that reinstated Hamdok as prime minister on Nov. 21, 2021.

But Hamdok resigned on Sunday, after the military refused to loosen its grip on power.

“I tried as much as I could to avoid our country slipping into a catastrophe, and now our country is going through a dangerous turning point that may threaten its entire survival if it is not remedied soon,” Hamdok said in a televised national address. “The major crisis today in the homeland is primarily a political crisis, but it is gradually changing to include all aspects of economic and social life and is on its way to becoming a comprehensive crisis.”

“The key word towards a solution to this dilemma that has persisted for more than six decades in the history of the country is to rely on dialogue at a round table in which all groups of Sudanese society and the state are represented to agree on a national charter and to draw a roadmap to complete the civil democratic transformation,” he added.

Thousands of pro-democracy protesters have taken to the streets of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and other cities across the country to denounce the military takeover and demand civilian rule. Sudanese security forces have used violent means to disperse protesters, killing at least 57 of them and injuring hundreds of others since October, according to the Sudan Doctors Committee, which is part of the pro-democracy movement.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has expressed grave concern about reports of sexual violence and sexual harassment against women and girls by Sudanese security forces during protests in December.

The U.S. government has repeatedly called for accountability in the wake of the reported atrocities but has yet to penalize the Sudanese military. When asked why the Sudanese military hasn’t been sanctioned, U.S. Department of State spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Tuesday: “We don’t preview sanctions designations, but we are exploring all available options to support Sudan’s transition.”

However, some analysts argued that now is the time for action, not more warnings and threats.

Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, a think-tank in Washington, D.C., said the U.S. government “must move beyond tired bromides claiming to ‘stand with the people of Sudan’ and unabashedly throw its weight behind the country’s pro-democracy movement in tangible and meaningful ways that will begin to swing the balance of power more in the protesters’ favor.”

“Sudan’s formal transition to democracy is over, even though its revolution lives on in the hearts of millions of peaceful pro-democracy protesters,” Hudson wrote Monday in a post for the Atlantic Council’s blog. “Washington and its international partners have now lost the final pretense of what allowed them — for too long — to frame their engagement in terms of supporting a ‘civilian-led transitional government.'”

“With no political agreement or civilian leader left to undermine, Washington and its allies should now pursue a more hardline approach toward the military that holds it accountable for the October coup and the deadly response to peaceful protests since then,” he added before noting “that should mean sanctions.”

It remains unclear whether freezing the assets of Sudanese military leaders would have any impact, especially since allies like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates continue to back them and Sudan previously found a way to manage under nearly 20 years of U.S. sanctions.

Some analysts argued that regional allies have little to gain from an unstable Sudan. Camille Lons, a Bahrain-based research associate for the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank in London, said the “spill-over effects — such as economic repercussions, refugee flows, terrorism threats and arms smuggling — are perceived as highly problematic.”

“Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as Egypt, continue to favour the military in Sudan. But that does not mean that they view the coup positively,” Lons wrote in an analysis posted on Nov. 16. “Several Gulf and Egyptian diplomats and officials have privately expressed their surprise and concern over what they see as a reckless move.”

“But as the US shows growing signs of disengagement in the region,” she added, “Arab Gulf countries will increasingly have to take care of their own regional security and stability, albeit with more pragmatism.”

In the absence of assertive pressure from the international community, the situation in Sudan is becoming dark and uncertain. In the war-torn Darfur region, where a genocide sparked global outrage, escalating violence has displaced thousands of people since November. There have also been “alarming reports” of villages being destroyed, sexual violence and livestock rustling, according to the United Nations.

Moreover, Sudan under al-Bashir had concerning ties to terrorism that include giving safe haven to al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden and being implicated in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, for which al-Qaida claimed responsibility. But Hudson said the Sudanese military “appears intent” to keep the country off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. After being added in 1993 over its links to al-Qaida, Sudan was officially removed from the list in 2020.

“The military, for all its faults and abuses, has been a reasonably reliable ally in the fight against terrorism and has its own reasons to be concerned by jihadists taking up residence in Sudan,” Hudson told ABC News on Wednesday.

But diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and others to pressure Sudanese military leadership may be complicated by the departure of a senior U.S. diplomat.

Reuters, citing sources, reported Wednesday that the U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, is leaving his post at the end of the month amid the growing chaos in Sudan and neighboring Ethiopia, and that he will be replaced by David Satterfield, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Turkey. The U.S. Department of State declined ABC News’ request for comment.

Hudson told ABC News that Feltman’s departure would not be “particularly surprising, as he was only there as a stopgap to help the administration respond early on to the unfolding crises in Ethiopia and Sudan.”

“Most critical now is that the U.S. maintain a strong and consistent level of diplomatic engagement in the region at this critical moment,” he added, noting that an announcement of a replacement for Feltman would suggest that “this will be the case and should be welcomed.”

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(LONDON) — Kazakhstan’s president has appealed to a Russian-led military alliance for help in quelling the mass protests gripping the Central Asian country, promising to use force to put down the unrest.

President Kassym-Jopart Tokayev in a televised speech Wednesday said he had appealed to the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a security alliance of former Soviet countries dominated by Russia, to assist Kazakhstan with suppressing the protests which he claimed were being led by foreign terrorists.

The alliance has agreed to send a joint force of “peace-keepers” to Kazakhstan to help restore order, according to Armenia’s prime minister, which is part of the alliance. Prime minister Nikol Pashinyan said the force would deploy to Kazakhstan for a “limited period,” with the goal of “stabilising and normalising the situation in the country.” The CSTO includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan’s two neighbors, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

The announcement raises the prospect that foreign and potentially Russian troops may now help violently put down the unprecedented protests that have spread across Kazakhstan. First triggered by anger over a hike in fuel prices, they have escalated into a unprecedented challenge to the authoritarian regime of Nursultan Nazarbayev, that has dominated the former Soviet country for three decades and is a key ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin” target=”_blank”>Vladimir Putin.

Thousands of protesters on Wednesday stormed government buildings in several cities, including the largest city and former capital Almaty. There, protesters broke into the city administration office, set fire to other key buildings, and overran the airport. Security forces trying to violently disperse the crowds there and in several other cities appeared overwhelmed, with videos posted by local media showing protesters forcing military armored vehicles to flee and riding in police vehicles. Kazakhstan’s interior ministry said at least eight police officers had been killed.

Authorities have declared a state of emergency in the country and internet access for the country was shut down on Wednesday.

Tokayev on Wednesday tried to calm the protests with concessions, reversing the fuel price rise, dismissing his cabinet and announcing he would take over from Nazarbayev as head of the national security council. But after the protests continued, late Wednesday Tokayev announced he was now seeking assistance from the Russian military alliance.

Tokayev claimed “international terrorist groups” had seized parts of Almaty, saying that should be considered an “act of aggression” and he was therefore invoking the CSTO’s collective security guarantees.

“Considering the given terrorist groups are in essence international — they’ve undergone serious training abroad — their attack on Kazakhstan can and must be considered as an act of aggression. In connection with that, as set out by the treaty on collective security, I today am appealing to the heads of state of the CSTO for help,” Tokayev said in his speech to officials.

The CSTO alliance also includes Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Tajikistan, but its driving force is Russia. The alliance’s treaty guarantees assistance to members when their security or stability is threatened.

Tokayev made the announcement after calls with Putin and Belarus’ leader Alexander Lukashenko.

After Tokayev spoke, authorities in Almaty said security forces were conducting a “counter-terrorist operation” in the city, warning residents to remain indoors.

Kazakhstan is a major energy exporter and its authoritarian government is an important ally for the Kremlin, which has a stable and productive relationship with Tokayev’s government.

It is the second time in a year and a half that a long-time former Soviet leader of one of Russia’s key neighbors has faced a massive uprising after the failed protests in Belarus year.

Before Tokayev’s request for help on Wednesday, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia believed the crisis could resolved internally and warned others against outside intervention.

Dissatisfaction has been growing in Kazakhstan in recent years over worsening living standards and rising prices, and resentment at corruption among its ruling elite. The coronavirus pandemic has worsened those economic problems. The protests began four days ago in the Western oil region of Mangystau, sparked by a sharp rise in the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) widely used in vehicles. But since Tuesday, unrest has spread across the country and broadened into a movement calling for an end to the regime built around Nazarbayev.

Kazakhstan has been dominated by Nazarbayev since it became independent after the fall of the Soviet Union, thirty years ago. In 2019, the ailing 81-year-old handed the presidency to the younger Tokayev, but Nazarbayev retained power behind the scenes by moving to become chairman of Kazakhstan’s national security council.

Tokayev on Wednesday announced he was now heading the council, in an apparent concession. Tokayev did not mention Nazarbayev by name or refer to him, and it was unclear what it meant for Nazarbayev’s future role in the country.

“And so I, as head of state and from today chairman of the Security Council, am determined to act with maximum harshness,” Tokayev said in the address broadcast on state news channels. “Whatever happens I will stay in the capital,” he said.

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(LONDON) — One child died and eight others were injured after a bouncy castle overturned near the Spanish port city of Valencia on Tuesday evening, authorities said.

The accident occurred at a fairground in the town of Mislata, just west of Valencia. Several children became trapped inside a bouncy castle as a gust of wind lifted the inflatable structure into the air, local officials told ABC News.

Two children — an 8-year-old girl and a 4-year-old girl — suffered serious injuries after they were ejected from the overturned castle, local officials said.

Both were rushed to La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital in Valencia. The 8-year-old girl died about 12 hours after she was admitted, a hospital spokesperson told ABC News. The 4-year-old girl remains hospitalized, the spokesperson said. Her condition was unclear.

An investigation into the fatal incident is ongoing, but preliminary evidence did not indicate foul play, according to local officials.

The tragedy in Spain comes less than a month after a similar accident left five children dead in Australia.

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(LONDON) — Mass protests have broken out in Kazakhstan, triggered by a sharp rise in fuel prices in the Central Asian country.

Videos posted on social media show thousands of people gathering in cities across the country on Tuesday, in some places clashing violently with police and trying to storm government buildings, as authorities deployed security forces to try to disperse them and a state of emergency was declared in two parts of the country.

The internet was reportedly partially shut down in parts of the country, including in the former capital, Almaty, as Kazakhstan’s president appealed for calm and pledged his “government will not fall.”

The scenes on Tuesday were extraordinary in the repressive former Soviet country, where opposition is tightly controlled. For most of its independent history, Kazakhstan was ruled by the same authoritarian leader.

The protests began three days ago in the western region of Mangystau after the price of liquified natural gas, used in vehicles, roughly doubled overnight. But on Tuesday, the demonstrations swelled, spreading to cities across the country.

The government on Tuesday promised to reverse the fuel price rise, but the protests continued to grow, appearing to escalate Tuesday night as protesters in some cities sought to storm administrative buildings.

In Almaty, videos showed dozens of riot police using tear gas and stun grenades to clear demonstrators who reportedly tried to seize the mayor’s office.

Kazakhstan’s president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared a state of emergency in Almaty and the Mangystau region.

In a video address, Tokayev called for dialogue, saying the government would address the protesters’ legitimate demands but warned it would not fall.

“Calls to attack government and military offices are absolutely illegal,” Tokayev said. “The government will not fall, but we want mutual trust and dialogue rather than conflict.”

He said the government would hold a working meeting Wednesday to discuss the issues raised by the protesters.

Tokayev was hand-picked by Kazakhstan’s long-time ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev to be his successor in 2019, when Nazarbayev stepped aside after ruling the country since it gained independence from the USSR in 1991. Nazarbayev, 81, stood down as president to become chairman of Kazakhstan’s security council but is still believed to have retained significant power.

A major energy exporter, Kazakhstan is one of the world’s largest countries and a key neighbor for Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Unrest in the country is likely to alarm the Kremlin, which maintains strong influence in the region.

Large protests are very rare in Kazakhstan, where political opposition is barely tolerated and demonstrations must receive permission from authorities to take place legally.

The western city where the fuel protests were initially focused, the oil hub Zhanaozen, saw Kazakhstan’s last major protests in 2011. Those protests ended then in a massacre when security forces opened fire on demonstrators.

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(NEW YORK) — A research station in Antarctica is battling a COVID-19 outbreak despite being located in one of the most remote corners of the world.

Since mid-December, 16 of the 25 workers at Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have tested positive for the virus.

According to the French-language magazine Le Soir, the first positive COVID-19 case was confirmed on Dec. 14 in a worker who had traveled to Antarctica with a group via Belgium and South Africa.

Before arriving in South Africa, the workers were required to have a negative PCR test at least two hours prior to the flight. The employees then had to quarantine in South Africa for 10 days before taking another PCR test.

The group was again tested five days after arriving in Antarctica.

After the first infection was confirmed — seven days following arrival at the station — two more workers from the travel group tested positive.

The three patients were evacuated on Dec. 23, but the virus continued to spread throughout the station, according to Le Soir.

The workers had all been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with at least one having received a booster shot.

All of the cases have been mild so far, Joseph Cheek, a project manager for the International Polar Foundation, which manages the outpost, told the BBC.

There are two emergency doctors on site with equipment necessary to treat patients if their symptoms become severe.

All of the scientists at the station were given the option to evacuate but they decided to stay to continue their research, according to Cheek.

“While it has been an inconvenience to have to quarantine certain members of the staff who caught the virus, it hasn’t significantly affected our work,” he said.

According to a virologist consulted by the Belgian Polar Secretariat — which manages administrative matters for the Princess Elisabeth station — it is likely that the workers were infected with the omicron variant, which makes up 99% of all COVID cases in South Africa, Le Soir reported.

All new arrivals to the Princess Elisabeth, which is the first zero emission polar station, are suspended until further notice.

The International Polar Foundation did not immediately reply to ABC News’ request for comment.

This is not the first time that a COVID-19 outbreak has been reported in Antarctica.

In December 2020, Chile announced that 36 cases of the virus had been confirmed at its Bernardo O’Higgins research station on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Despite Antarctica’s remote location, research and military stations have taken strict measures to prevent the spread  COVID-19, including limiting the number of tourists and locking down bases.

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(NEW YORK) — A document Prince Andrew claims should prevent him from being sued by an alleged victim of Jeffrey Epstein was unsealed Monday by a federal judge in New York.

The document, a 2009 settlement agreement between Epstein and Virginia Giuffre, had been under seal for two years as part of related litigation.

It indicates that Giuffre and Epstein agreed to end her lawsuit against him filed earlier that year for $500,000.

Giuffre, who claims she was sexually assaulted by both Epstein and Prince Andrew starting when she was 17, filed a civil lawsuit against the prince in August of 2021.

Prince Andrew has vehemently denied the allegations and said he never had sex with Giuffre and has sought to dismiss the lawsuit, on several grounds, including claims that Giuffre has told various inconsistent stories.

Prince Andrew’s attorneys have also argued the settlement agreement precludes Giuffre from suing the royal because it covers “potential defendants” from all legal actions taken by Giuffre.

Whether that argument will be successful depends on the definition of the agreement’s intended beneficiaries.

According to Giuffre’s 2009 lawsuit, which she filed as “Jane Doe 102,” she alleged that she was required to have sexual contact with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and also several of their adult male friends and associates, “including royalty, politicians, academicians, businessmen, and/or other professional and personal acquaintances.”

The inclusion of the word “royalty” is, in the view of the prince’s attorneys, a clear reference to Prince Andrew, which, they argue, would make him, in effect one of the “potential defendants’ covered by the settlement agreement and is evidence that Giuffre and Epstein intended to release the prince from any future liability.

Giuffre’s lawyer argues the royal was not named in the agreement and could not be released as a beneficiary of the settlement, which defines “second parties” as Epstein’s “agent(s), attorney(s), predecessor(s), successor(s), heir(s), administrator(s), assign(s) and/or employee (s).” That would not appear to qualify Prince Andrew.

On the other hand, the agreement does “forever discharge the said Second Parties and any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant from all, and all manner of, action and actions of Virginia Roberts,” which the prince argues does apply to him as Giuffre had previously claimed, though he continues to deny wrongdoing and that he was one of the perpetrators.

There is a hearing on the prince’s motion to dismiss via video conference Tuesday.

Epstein was a prominent financier and registered sex offender. He died by suicide in a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019 while he awaited trial on federal charges for the sex trafficking on minors in Florida and New York.

Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and associate, was convicted on Dec. 29 on five of six counts related to the abuse and trafficking of underage girls. Giuffre did not testify in the case, but the government argued she was a victim of an alleged conspiracy to sex traffic individuals under 18.

Maxwell’s sentencing date has not yet been set and she faces decades in prison.

 

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(NEW MEXICO) — Twenty-one people have been rescued after becoming trapped overnight in tram cars on the Sandia Peak Tramway in Albuquerque, New Mexico, authorities said.

The tramway cars had been stuck since 2 a.m. due to icy conditions in the area, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday.

Twenty people stranded in one of the tramway’s two cars were evacuated via helicopter two to four at a time, authorities said. The sheriff’s office livestreamed the rescue operation for over an hour.

Shortly after 1 p.m. local time, Bernalillo County fire officials updated that all 20 passengers in the car had been rescued.

An employee still remains in the second tram car, as responders are “actively working” on a rescue plan, the fire department said.

Metro Air Support, the Bernalillo County sheriff’s office and fire department, New Mexico State Police, New Mexico Search and Rescue Teams are involved in the rescue efforts.

Sandia Peak Tramway general manager Michael Donavan told ABC Albuquerque affiliate KOAT earlier Saturday that all passengers were in good condition and had water and blankets on board the tram car.

The Sandia Peak Tramway is closed Saturday due to high winds, the company said.

The tram ride typically takes 15 minutes to the peak of the Sandia Mountains, and another 15 minutes back to the lower terminal.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos contributed to this report.

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(NEW MEXICO) — More than 20 people became trapped overnight in a tram car on the Sandia Peak Tramway in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as rescue efforts are underway for one remaining employee, authorities said.

The tramway cars had been stuck since 2 a.m. due to icy conditions in the area, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday.

Twenty people stranded in one of the tramway’s two cars were evacuated via helicopter two to four at a time, authorities said. The sheriff’s office livestreamed the rescue operation for over an hour.

Shortly after 1 p.m. local time, Bernalillo County fire officials updated that all 20 passengers in the car had been rescued.

An employee still remains in the second tram car, as responders are “actively working” on a rescue plan, the fire department said.

Metro Air Support, the Bernalillo County sheriff’s office and fire department, New Mexico State Police, New Mexico Search and Rescue Teams are involved in the rescue efforts.

Sandia Peak Tramway general manager Michael Donavan told ABC Albuquerque affiliate KOAT earlier Saturday that all passengers were in good condition and had water and blankets on board the tram car.

The Sandia Peak Tramway is closed Saturday due to high winds, the company said.

The tram ride typically takes 15 minutes to the peak of the Sandia Mountains, and another 15 minutes back to the lower terminal.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday — their second conversation this month amid heightened fears of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The call, which the Biden administration said comes at Putin’s request, was the latest effort to defuse those tensions diplomatically.

But tens of thousands of Russian troops remain near Ukraine’s borders, and bellicose rhetoric from Russian officials and state propaganda have Western officials on edge still.

The U.S. and European allies have threatened unprecedented economic penalties for Moscow if it attacks Ukraine, nearly eight years after its forces seized the Crimean Peninsula and sparked a war in Ukraine’s eastern provinces known as Donbas.

Sanctions and other penalties have not brought that conflict to an end, with approximately 14,000 people killed and Russian-led separatists still fighting Ukrainian forces. U.S. officials say it’s unclear if Putin has decided to attack again in an all-out invasion, but Biden has already made clear U.S. forces will not come to Kyiv’s aid on the battlefield.

Instead, the Biden administration is hoping deterrence and diplomacy will stop Putin. A senior administration official said they “cannot speak to why the Russian side has requested the call,” but added both leaders believe there is “genuine value in direct leader to leader engagement.”

“I think we are at a moment of crisis and have been for some weeks now given the Russian build-up and that it will take a high level of engagement to address this and to try to find a path of de-escalation,” the official told reporters Wednesday.

In addition to the leaders’ call, U.S. and Russian diplomats will meet on Jan. 10, the two sides confirmed Tuesday, to discuss stated security concerns on either side.

“Open lines of dialogue, open lines of diplomacy have the potential to be constructive as we seek to de-escalate the potential for conflict in and around Ukraine,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said of the talks.

After those meetings, NATO will hold a meeting with Russia on Jan. 12, while the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a key security forum that has deployed a war monitor in eastern Ukraine, will hold a session Jan. 13.

“The Biden administration continues to engage in extensive diplomacy with our European allies and partners, consulting and coordinating on a common approach in response to Russia’s military build-up on the border with Ukraine,” Emily Horne, Biden’s National Security Council spokesperson, said in a statement.

But some European allies have called for greater involvement. The European Union “must be involved in these negotiations,” its top diplomat, Josep Borrell, told the German newspaper Die Welt.

“It’s about us. This is not simply the case for two states, i.e. America and Russia, or NATO and Russia — even if Moscow imagines it,” he added in the interview, published Wednesday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said repeatedly the U.S. will not negotiate any arrangement about European security without first consulting European allies — speaking again to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Wednesday, just as the two spoke before Biden and Putin’s first call this month.

He reiterated “unwavering” U.S. support for Ukraine, per Price, and “discussed efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine and upcoming diplomatic engagements with Russia” — a nod to both Thursday’s call and the Jan. 10 meetings.

Zelenskiy tweeted that he was assured of “full” U.S. support “in countering Russian aggression.” U.S. officials have already publicly rebuked Russia’s demand heading into talks — that Ukraine be barred from NATO membership, saying the Western alliance’s military activity in former Soviet states threatens Russia.

But other items on Russia’s public demands are not “unacceptable” and could be addressed through diplomacy, Blinken, Price and others have said — provided that Russia de-escalate as well by pulling back its forces from Ukraine’s borders.

Instead, while Russian state media reported Monday that more than 10,000 were withdrawn, the senior administration official said there’s still a “significant Russian troop presence in and around the border.”

The ominous language from Russian officials has also continued. Putin himself said Sunday that he is weighing “diverse” military and technical options if Russia’s demands aren’t addressed.

Amid that heightened threat, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv is making “emergency preparations” in case it evacuates non-emergency personnel or diplomats’ families, according to internal emails obtained by ABC News.

The embassy is seeking additional security staff to temporarily fill in next month, as the “permanent staff continue Emergency Preparations in case of Authorized or Ordered Departure” — when an embassy allows diplomats’ families and non-emergency personnel to relocate because of a threat.

A State Department spokesperson confirmed Wednesday they are “conducting normal contingency planning, as we always do, in the event the security situation severely deteriorates.” But they told ABC News they are not “currently considering evacuations of U.S. government personnel or American citizens from Ukraine.”

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said that during Biden’s call with Putin, Biden assured that the U.S. is not going to deploy offensive strike weapons in Ukraine.

“President Biden has clearly stated that the United States does not intend to deploy offensive strike weapons in Ukraine. Our president noted that this is one of the key points that are just included in our documents that we have handed over to the Americans and on which we want to continue substantive negotiations,” Ushakov told reporters after a telephone conversation between the presidents.

According to Ushakov, Putin said Russia will seek guarantees of its security.

“Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin outlined in detail the basic principles that were laid down in the documents we submitted, and stressed that negotiations on these three tracks are important for us, of course, but the main thing is that we need a result, and we will achieve a result in the form of ensuring guaranteed security of Russia,” Ushakov told reporters. “The US President, in principle, agreed with this point of view and reacted quite logically and quite seriously.”

Earlier this month, the State Department updated its travel advisory for Ukraine to include a warning about “increased threats from Russia.” The advisory had been at the agency’s highest level, “Level 4: Do Not Travel,” for months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it now warns, “U.S. citizens should be aware of reports that Russia is planning for significant military action against Ukraine.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued a short statement Thursday following Biden’s call with Putin, saying Biden “urged Russia to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine,” and “made clear that the United States and its allies and partners will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine.”

“President Biden also expressed support for diplomacy, starting early next year with the bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue, at NATO through the NATO-Russia Council, and at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. President Biden reiterated that substantive progress in these dialogues can occur only in an environment of de-escalation rather than escalation,” Psaki said.

Also on Thursday, a senior White House official gave a readout of the call between Biden and Putin, saying the tone was “serious and substantive.”

According to the official, Biden outlined two paths forward — all depending on how Russia chooses to proceed.

“President Biden laid out two paths. Two aspects of the US approach that will really depend on Russia’s actions in the period ahead. One is a path of diplomacy, leading toward a de-escalation of the situation, and the other is a path that’s more focused on deterrence, including serious costs and consequences should Russia choose to proceed with a further invasion of Ukraine,” the official said.

“Those costs include economic costs include adjustments and augmentations of NATO force posture in allied countries and include additional assistance to Ukraine to enable it to further defend itself in its territory. as we’ve laid out previously,” the official added.

When asked if Putin had offered any further clarity on if he had made a decision on whether or not to further invade Ukraine, the official said there were “certainly no declarations to intention” in the conversation, but the U.S. will continue to monitor the situation to be ready for whatever Putin decides.

ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday — their second conversation this month amid heightened fears of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The call, which the Biden administration said comes at Putin’s request, is the latest effort to defuse those tensions diplomatically.

But tens of thousands of Russian troops remain near Ukraine’s borders, and bellicose rhetoric from Russian officials and state propaganda have Western officials on edge still.

The U.S. and European allies have threatened unprecedented economic penalties for Moscow if it attacks Ukraine, nearly eight years after its forces seized the Crimean Peninsula and sparked a war in Ukraine’s eastern provinces known as Donbas.

Sanctions and other penalties have not brought that conflict to an end, with approximately 14,000 people killed and Russian-led separatists still fighting Ukrainian forces. U.S. officials say it’s unclear if Putin has decided to attack again in an all-out invasion, but Biden has already made clear U.S. forces will not come to Kyiv’s aid on the battlefield.

Instead, the Biden administration is hoping deterrence and diplomacy will stop Putin. A senior administration official said they “cannot speak to why the Russian side has requested the call,” but added both leaders believe there is “genuine value in direct leader to leader engagement.”

“I think we are at a moment of crisis and have been for some weeks now given the Russian build-up and that it will take a high level of engagement to address this and to try to find a path of de-escalation,” the official told reporters Wednesday.

In addition to the leaders’ call, U.S. and Russian diplomats will meet on Jan. 10, the two sides confirmed Tuesday, to discuss stated security concerns on either side.

“Open lines of dialogue, open lines of diplomacy have the potential to be constructive as we seek to de-escalate the potential for conflict in and around Ukraine,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said of the talks.

After those meetings, NATO will hold a meeting with Russia on Jan. 12, while the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a key security forum that has deployed a war monitor in eastern Ukraine, will hold a session Jan. 13.

“The Biden administration continues to engage in extensive diplomacy with our European allies and partners, consulting and coordinating on a common approach in response to Russia’s military build-up on the border with Ukraine,” Emily Horne, Biden’s National Security Council spokesperson, said in a statement.

But some European allies have called for greater involvement. The European Union “must be involved in these negotiations,” its top diplomat, Josep Borrell, told the German newspaper Die Welt.

“It’s about us. This is not simply the case for two states, i.e. America and Russia, or NATO and Russia — even if Moscow imagines it,” he added in the interview, published Wednesday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said repeatedly the U.S. will not negotiate any arrangement about European security without first consulting European allies — speaking again to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Wednesday, just as the two spoke before Biden and Putin’s first call this month.

He reiterated “unwavering” U.S. support for Ukraine, per Price, and “discussed efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine and upcoming diplomatic engagements with Russia” — a nod to both Thursday’s call and the Jan. 10 meetings.

Zelenskiy tweeted that he was assured of “full” U.S. support “in countering Russian aggression.” U.S. officials have already publicly rebuked Russia’s demand heading into talks — that Ukraine be barred from NATO membership, saying the Western alliance’s military activity in former Soviet states threatens Russia.

But other items on Russia’s public demands are not “unacceptable” and could be addressed through diplomacy, Blinken, Price and others have said — provided that Russia de-escalate as well by pulling back its forces from Ukraine’s borders.

Instead, while Russian state media reported Monday that more than 10,000 were withdrawn, the senior administration official said there’s still a “significant Russian troop presence in and around the border.”

The ominous language from Russian officials has also continued. Putin himself said Sunday that he is weighing “diverse” military and technical options if Russia’s demands aren’t addressed.

Amid that heightened threat, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv is making “emergency preparations” in case it evacuates non-emergency personnel or diplomats’ families, according to internal emails obtained by ABC News.

The embassy is seeking additional security staff to temporarily fill in next month, as the “permanent staff continue Emergency Preparations in case of Authorized or Ordered Departure” — when an embassy allows diplomats’ families and non-emergency personnel to relocate because of a threat.

A State Department spokesperson confirmed Wednesday they are “conducting normal contingency planning, as we always do, in the event the security situation severely deteriorates.” But they told ABC News they are not “currently considering evacuations of U.S. government personnel or American citizens from Ukraine.”

Earlier this month, the State Department updated its travel advisory for Ukraine to include a warning about “increased threats from Russia.” The advisory had been at the agency’s highest level, “Level 4: Do Not Travel,” for months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it now warns, “U.S. citizens should be aware of reports that Russia is planning for significant military action against Ukraine.”

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