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President Joe Biden predicted Russia “will step in” to Ukraine on Wednesday, citing existential worries expressed by the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, even as he recognised NATO divisions over how to respond to a “small invasion.”
The forthright assessment revealed Biden’s inability to create serious penalties and deterrents for Moscow, which remains economically entwined with the United States’ biggest European partners.
The statement sparked an almost instant backlash in Kyiv, where authorities have been meeting with Biden’s top ambassador as Russian forces pile on the country’s border. The White House quickly launched high-level efforts to clean up the remark.
While Biden threatened Russia with severe economic repercussions if Putin sent soldiers across the border, including limiting its financial transactions in US dollars, he also implied that Western nations were not in agreement on what to do if a minor infringement occurred.
“It’s one thing if it’s a tiny intrusion and we wind up fighting over what to do and what not to do,” Biden said at an East Room press conference. “However, if they do what they are capable of doing with the forces stockpiled on the border, it will be a tragedy for Russia if they continue to attack Ukraine.”
Later, when pressed to define “small invasion,” Biden stated that he drew the line at “Russian soldiers crossing the border, murdering Ukrainian fighters.”
“I believe that changes everything,” remarked the President. “However, it is dependent on what he does to what degree we can achieve ultimate unanimity on the NATO front.”
“It is critical that everyone in NATO is on the same page. That’s what I spend a lot of time doing, and there are some distinctions “He said. “Depending on what happens, there are variances in NATO as to what nations are ready to do.”
“Biden has been clear with the Russian President: Any Russian military forces moving across the Ukrainian border constitutes a revived invasion, and it will be met with a swift, severe, and united response from the United States and our Allies,” press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement following Biden’s marathon news conference. “I believe that changes everything,” remarked the President. “However, it is dependent on what he does to what degree we can achieve ultimate unanimity on the NATO front.”
