| Translate This News In |
|---|
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden, who spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin directly to discuss the Russian force build-up that threatens Ukraine, predicted that Putin “will move in.”
“I think he still does not want any full-blown war,” Biden stated at a press conference on Wednesday. “Do I think he’ll test the west? Test the United States and NATO as significantly as he can? Yes, I believe he will.”
If Russia invades, Biden said, it will be held accountable, but the US response will be determined by the circumstances of the attack.
“It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and we end up having to fight about what to do and not do,” President Joe Biden stated. A full-scale invasion of Ukraine would be “a disaster for Russia” he claimed.
Biden gives a speech before taking questions at his news conference: "I often see empty shelves being shown on television. 89 percent are full. Which is only a few points below what it was before the pandemic." pic.twitter.com/m5PdwQpxA2
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 19, 2022
Biden says Putin isn’t sure what he’ll do yet. The president stated that he informed Putin that they might “work out something” to keep nuclear weapons out of Ukraine, but that banning Ukraine from NATO is not conceivable due to existing European treaties.
Biden’s remarks on Wednesday reflected what the White House and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have said in recent days. Blinken warned that Russia may attack Ukraine on “very short notice” during a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday.
