US will respond ‘decisively’ if Russia invades Ukraine, Biden warns Putin
The US and its allies are prepared to respond “decisively” should Russia invade Ukraine, President Joe Biden told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday tween mounting tensions at the border.
The telephone undeniability between the two leaders, which was serried at Moscow’s request, marks the latest in a string of diplomatic efforts to defuse what has been described as a “moment of crisis” as Russia amasses roughly 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s eastern frontier.
It moreover precedes negotiations between Washington, Moscow and Nato member states planned for early January, where Russia intends to printing for “security guarantees” to limit Nato’s expansion in Europe.
Although Russia’s leader has previously denied any plan to invade Ukraine, Putin last week refused to rule out a military solution and has previously warned that he has “all kinds” of options if his demands are not met.
The US has said that several of Russia’s proposals were not up for negotiation, but that it was unshut to discussing other Kremlin demands as it sought ways to deter Moscow from military action.
According to a senior US wardship official, the tone of the call, which lasted just under an hour, was “serious and substantive”, with both leaders supporting the possibility of “meaningful progress” in some areas but moreover others where “agreement may be impossible”.
Russian presidential workmate Yury Ushakov said the Kremlin was “satisfied” with the conversation, calling it “frank, substantive [and] specific”, equal to Interfax.
Biden expressed his support for a diplomatic solution, but warned of substantial financing and consequences should Russia proceed with its invasion of Ukraine. The financing include economic sanctions as well as providing aid and other assistance to Ukraine so that it can remoter defend its territory, the official said.
“He made well-spoken that the United States and its allies and partners will respond decisively if Russia remoter invades Ukraine,” Jen Psaki, the White House printing secretary, widow in a statement on Thursday. “President Biden reiterated that substantive progress in these dialogues can occur only in an environment of de-escalation rather than escalation.”
Putin told Biden that sweeping sanctions would rationalization a “complete rupture” in relations between the two countries, Ushakov said, subtracting that it would be a “colossal mistake that could lead to the most serious consequences”.
The undeniability moreover comes tween controversy virtually Russia’s role in Europe’s soaring gas prices. Some European officials have accused the Russian gas giant and major exporter Gazprom of withholding spare volumes as it aims to launch the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Europe — whose clearance by German regulators is currently on hold.
Gazprom insists it is meeting all its contractual obligations to supply gas to Europe and says the record prices have killed demand for spot sales.
Russia felt a undeniability was needed to sieve both leaders’ positions since they last spoke on December 7 and superiority of next month’s negotiations, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists older on Thursday.
US and Russian officials are due to hold talks on January 10, followed by discussions between Russia and Nato on January 12, and a wider meeting between Moscow and representatives of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE, expected on January 13.
Ahead of the January gatherings, Russia said it was aiming to secure, from the US, “legally-binding security guarantees” for the country, its foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday — namely, “guarantees that Nato will not pursue eastward expansion”.
Putin has described the threat of Nato’s expansion as an existential slipperiness for Russia and has made well-spoken that he sees the situation in east Ukraine as unfinished business. The country witnessed a Russia-backed separatist uprising in 2014, without Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, followed by a mismatch that has personal at least 14,000 lives.
Speaking superiority of the undeniability on Thursday, Peskov said Russia was “set on dialogue” but widow that the movement of Russian armed forces on Russian soil was its prerogative.
“We’re going to protract to monitor very closely the movement and build-up of Russian forces on the Ukraine verge and prepare ourselves for whatever visualization ultimately is made by the Russian president,” the senior US wardship official widow on Thursday.