The president of United States, Joe Biden, has predicted a Russian invasion of Ukraine and has warned Moscow that, if it occurs, “will be held accountable”. He did so at a press conference to celebrate his first year in office, where he assured that his counterpart Vladimir Putin has “a difficult decision: either diplomacy or confrontation and consequences”.
In this sense, the tenant of the White House has considered “possible” keep another summit with the Russian president to try to reduce tensions between the two countries. Russia is raising the tone due to the possibility of new members joining NATO, including Ukraine or Finland, which it considers unacceptable.
Biden has warned that Putin “has never seen sanctions like the ones I have promised will be imposed if he moves” towards Ukraine, although he has also generated confusion by insinuating that the West’s response might not be so hard if Moscow opts for some measure that does not involve a full-scale invasion.
“It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and we end up arguing (in NATO) about what to do and what not to do, but if (the Russians) do what they’re capable of with a massive force on the border, it will be a disaster for russia“, has underlined.
That statement has generated alarm in Ukraine, where an official source has told CNN that it seemed that Biden was “giving Putin the green light to enter” in the country as long as it was a “minor incursion”.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki was later forced to clarify in a statement that “if any Russian military forces cross the border with Ukraine,” Washington will consider it “a new invasion” and will impose “swift and severe” retaliation in coordination with its European allies.
Moscow talks about “anti-Russian campaign”
For its part, from the Kremlin they have asked this Thursday to put an end to the “anti-russia campaign” of speculation about an attack on Ukraine, which he has denounced as a cover used by the West to launch its own provocations, including military ones.
“The objective of this campaign is to create an informative cover to prepare Major provocations, including of a military nature, which can have tragic consequences for regional and global security,” the spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zajarova, said at her weekly press conference.
Moscow’s fears are confirmed, it has said, by the latest news about the shipment of weapons from Western countries to Ukraine, although these are defensive in nature. “We urge Western countries to stop the aggressive anti-Russian information campaign, stop militarizing Ukraine and dragging it into NATO. Instead, there should be direct efforts to encourage the Kiev regime to comply with the Minsk Agreements (to peace in Donbas) and other international obligations,” he said.
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
