‘That’s a WORLD WAR when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another,’ says Biden

President Joe Biden on Thursday told Americans to leave Ukraine immediately, warning them that they could not expect to be rescued by U.S. troops if Russia launched an invasion.

‘American citizens should leave now,’ Biden said in an interview with NBC News. 

‘It’s not like we’re dealing with a terrorist organization. We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. 

‘It’s a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly.’

Russia has amassed some 120,000 troops close to the Ukrainian border, triggering fears of an invasion. 

Extra American troops have been deploying to NATO allies in the region but Biden said he could not imagine any circumstances where they were sent to help Americans leave the country.

‘There’s not,’ he said. 

‘That’s a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another.

‘We’re in a very different world than we’ve ever been.’  

Biden spoke to NBC News’ Lester Holt during a visit to Virginia on Thursday. The full interview will be broadcast before the Super Bowl on Sunday

A Russian tank takes part in drills in a photograph released by the Russian Defense Ministry

A satellite image taken by Maxar Technologies shows a Russian deployment at Zyabrovka airfield in Gomel, Belarus, less than 15 miles from the border with Ukraine

A Russian video of air defence crews taking up position during joint military exercises with Belarus that began on Thursday, further raising the stakes

Tensions ramped up further on Thursday as Russia held military exercises in Belarus and the Black Sea, prompting Britain to declare it as the ‘most dangerous moment.’  

Ukraine also staged war games and a senior U.S. official warned that ‘bodybags will come back to Moscow’ if Russian troops crossed the border. 

It leaves world leaders hoping diplomacy can still win the day and prompt President Vladimir Putin to back down. 

An diplomatic source told DailyMail.com that the intelligence community did not believe that Putin intended to invade, but he still needed a way out that would allow him to save face.

In the interview, which will be broadcast in full before Sunday’s Super Bowl, Biden said he believed that if Putin was ‘foolish enough to go in, he’s smart enough not to, in fact, do anything that would negatively impact on American citizens.’ 

He also discussed his search for a Supreme Court nominee, after Justice Stephen Breyer said last month he was retiring.

‘What I’ve done is I’ve taken about four people and done the deep dive on them, meaning … thorough background checks,’ he said.

He has already promised to nominate the first black woman to the Supreme Court. 

On indoor mask mandates, the other big story of the day, Biden suggested it may be too soon to lift the requirement for face coverings  in federal government offices and public buildings.

He has found himself increasingly out of step with public opinion and Democratic governors in California, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Nevada and Oregon who announced this week that they were easing or ending mandates.

‘I’ve committed that I would follow the science as put forward by the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and federal people and I think it’s probably premature, but it’s, you know, it’s a tough call,’ he said.

Meanwhile, in Europe, six Russian landing ships filled with tanks and troops yesterday assembled in the Black Sea to back up the land forces, heightening concerns.

Moscow’s forces are also beginning joint military exercises with ally Belarus. 

An estimated 30,000 troops are taking part in the 10-day war games.

Analysts say the huge build-up of Russian troops offers Putin multiple military options

‘Our intelligence, I’m afraid to say, remains grim. We’re seeing the massing of huge numbers of tactical battalion groups on the border with Ukraine,’ said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a joint news conference with NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels

‘This is probably the most dangerous moment in the course of the next few days in what is the biggest security crisis Europe has faced for decades.’

As part of U.S. efforts to ‘reduce chances of miscalculation,’ the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, spoke on Thursday with his Belarusian counterpart, a Pentagon spokesman said.

And U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman spelled out the high stakes if Putin made the wrong choice. 

If he chose war he ‘should understand that body bags will come back to Moscow.., that the citizens of Russia will suffer because their economy will be completely devastated,’ she told broadcaster MSNBC.