Biden said, based on the Ukrainian leader's demand after the explanations, Biden said, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted in both English and Ukrainian, "We want to remind the great powers that there is no petty aggression, no petty race. No petty losses, no grief over the loss of a loved one." In Biden's comments.
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| Biden said, based on the Ukrainian |
"I say this as the head of a great power."
Russia has deployed thousands of troops along its border with Ukraine, and Western countries fear that Moscow is planning new attacks on a country it attacked in 2014. Russia denies planning the attack but says it may take military action indefinitely if the list of demands, including an alliance pledge, is not met. North Atlantic and Kyiv will not be recognized as a member.
At a news conference Wednesday, Biden said he expected Russian President Vladimir Putin to take some kind of action, and that Washington and its allies appeared to disagree over a response if Moscow halted its major offensive.
"I think he's going in," Biden said. "He has to do something."
"Russia will be held responsible if it attacks - that depends on how it does it," Biden said. "This is something if it's a small intervention and we have to fight what should and what should not be done and so on," Biden said, adding that the attack would be a "disaster" for Russia.
Shortly after Biden's press conference, the White House withdrew any indication that a small-scale Russian military incursion would be met with a weak American response.
"If a Russian military force crosses the border into Ukraine, it will be new aggression, and you will be met with a swift, strong and united response from the United States and our allies," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
Biden's remarks prompted Western leaders to bring the crisis under control, determined to stay united.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met the ministers of Britain, France, and Germany in Berlin on Thursday.
"Whatever path Russia chooses, it will bring the United States, Germany, and our allies together," he told a news conference with German Foreign Minister Annallina Birbock.
The French delegation will meet with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbach, and British Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, and North America James Cleverly. January 20, 2022, Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin, Germany. Alex Brandon/Paul via Reuters
Satellite image showing armored personnel carriers and trucks at the Klimovo storage facility in Klimovo, Russia, January 19, 2022. © Through 2022 Maxer Technologies/Reuters Releases
Russian service personnel takes part in a strategic exercise of an offensive engineering unit on January 17, 2022, at a training ground in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov region of Russia. Photograph: Sergei Pivovarov/Reuters
Satellite image showing armored personnel carriers and trucks at the Klimovo storage facility in Klimovo, Russia, January 19, 2022. © Through 2022 Maxer Technologies/Reuters Releases
"We urge Russia to take immediate measures to end hostilities. Any aggression or other aggression will have serious consequences," Baerbock told a news conference.
Other allies made similar comments, some with Biden's comments in mind. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, chief executive of the European Union, said a new attack would be dealt with "with massive economic and financial sanctions. The transatlantic community stands firmly on this."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "There is no doubt that if Russia infiltrated Ukraine in any way, or at any level, whatever, I think it would be a disaster not only for Ukraine but for Russia."
Moscow says the threat of US sanctions does not calm the situation.
His tongue slips
Western countries have long insisted publicly on a united front, with some officials personally expressing frustration with Biden's comments, though they called them "neglected" and unlikely to change Moscow's tally.
"It was not useful, it was a gift to Putin, but we should not read much about it. Biden did not give Moscow the green light to invade Ukraine," sources said.
Another said: "I think the Russians will know how to arrange Biden's statements, and they will classify it as it was...a slip."
Moscow presented a list of security demands to the West in talks last week that made no progress.
Western countries have repeatedly imposed economic sanctions since Russian forces occupied Ukraine's Crimea in 2014. But such measures have had little impact on Russian politics, with Moscow, Europe's main supplier of power, calculating that the West will stop taking serious action. Enough to interfere with gas exports.
US and European officials say there are still robust financial arrangements that have not been tried. Germany has indicated it may shut down Nord Stream 2, a new Russian gas pipeline that shuts down Ukraine if Moscow invades. Read more
"The gas is still not flowing through Nord Stream 2, which means the pipeline is for Germany, the United States, and our allies, not Russia," Blinken said at a news conference on Thursday.
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Additional reporting by Peter Graf with Simon Lewis, Sabine Siebold, Pavel Politik, Benoit van Overstraten, Marien Strauss and Dmitri Antonov; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Frances Kerry
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