US President Joe Biden speaks about his administration’s plan to combat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) with the emergence of variant Omicron, during his visit to the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, December 2, 2021.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
WASHINGTON – The Biden administration on Friday said it was consulting Congress and its allies on a range of options to deter Russia from carrying out a potential attack on Ukraine.
President Joe Biden himself said on Friday that his administration was preparing actions to make it difficult for Russia to launch its second invasion of Ukraine in a decade.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has warned Washington and its European allies that Russian troops have concentrated along their border. Meanwhile, Moscow accuses Kyiv of pursuing its own army build-up on the border.
Biden hopes the US can prevent the situation from escalating.
“What I’m doing is putting together what, I believe, will be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very unlikely for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what everyone believes. he can do it,” Biden told reporters Friday after a White House speech.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters later in the day that the Biden administration was monitoring the situation on the Ukraine-Russia border.
“We cannot guess from here what the calculation of President Putin or the calculation of the Russians is. We have seen what they did in 2014. We have seen what they are doing at the border and we have seen them. I will consult with us. Allies and partners as well as Congress are here to prepare for a range of options,” said Mr. Psaki, referring to Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. legal.
The seizure of Crimea in 2014 caused international uproar and triggered a series of sanctions against Moscow. Shortly after the annexation, a war broke out in eastern Ukraine between government troops and Russian-backed separatists.
Foreign Minister Antony Blinken called on Russia to reduce tensions by first withdrawing its troops from the border.
Members of the State Border Guard of Ukraine take part in a training course near the borders with Belarus and Poland in the Volyn region, Ukraine November 16, 2021.
Gleb Garanich | Reuters
“Resolving anything diplomatically when a gun is stuck in someone’s head is very, very difficult. So I think that’s the first step,” Blinken told a virtual audience on Friday. .
The country’s top diplomat also warned that there would be trouble for Russia if it continued its provocative actions against Ukraine.
“If Russia decides to pursue a confrontational course, if it continues to be aggressive, there will be very serious consequences and not only from us, but from other countries as well as from Europe. I very much hope that Russia will put that in its mind, especially since there are much better roads ahead,” Blinken said. “Confrontation won’t benefit anyone.”
Earlier this week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that any future Russian aggression against Ukraine would lead to serious economic and political consequences for Moscow.
“The ministers made it clear that we stand by our decisions. Our support for sovereignty and territorial integrity [of Ukraine and Georgia] Stoltenberg said during a NATO meeting in Riga, Latvia.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Stockholm, Sweden December 2, 2021.
Jonathan Nackstrand | Reuters
Blinken’s comments came after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Minister of Security and Cooperation in Stockholm.
Foreign Minister Lavrov dismissed suggestions that Moscow was preparing an attack on Ukraine and defended Russia’s right to deploy troops on its territory.
“Everybody is talking about the escalation of tensions in Europe. In particular, on the Russia-Ukraine border. You understand very well that we did this as President Putin has stated that we do not want to. there is any conflict,” Lavrov said.
