On monday biden spoke to european
leaders in preparation for the putin
summit. Afterwards Boris Johnson said that they
had agreed to present a united front on
ukraine. U.S Secretary of state Anthony Blinken
on monday spoke to Ukraine President Vola Dimmer Zelensky and reiterated
washington's unwavering support in the
face of russian aggression, the u.s state
department said.
Zelensky said in a tweet that he and
blinken agreed to continue joint and
concerted action. With an estimated one hundred thousand
russian troops already gathered within
striking distance of the borders, the
crisis is at its worst since 2015. When
moscow staged a large-scale incursion
into ukraine clandestinely sending tanks
and artillery to encircle ukrainian
troops in compelling kiev to sign a
peace agreement in minsk that has since
come close to collapse.
The official pointed out in a briefing
to reporters that the first russian
military intervention in ukraine led to
more u.s troops and equipment being
deployed in eastern europe and that
there would be a similar response this
time.
It would certainly be the case that if
putin moved in there would be an
increasing request from eastern flank
allies and a positive response from the
united states. For additional forces and
capabilities and exercises to take place
there to ensure the safety and security
of our eastern flank allies in the face
of that kind of aggression in ukraine.
The official said but made clear that
biden would not be threatening a direct
u.s military response. The united states is not seeking to end
up in a circumstance in which the focus
on our countermeasures is the direct use
of american military force, as opposed to
a combination of support for the
ukrainian military, strong economic
countermeasures and a substantial
increase in support and capability to
our nato allies to ensure that they
remain safe.
The senior official said
adding he would not disclose, what the
president is going to say on the
question of under what circumstances the
u.s military could get involved. The official said substantial economic
countermeasures from the u.s and europe
could impose significant and severe
economic harm on the russian economy. Putin has said that he will seek
security guarantees for russia, including
a ban on nato enlargement or military
support for ukraine.
The white house made clear that would
not be up for discussion. the us has consistently expressed
support for the principle that every
country has the sovereign right to make
its own decisions with respect to its
security, the u s official said. That remains u.s policy today and will
remain u.s policy in the future. So that much is straightforward and
clear.
russia has virtually frozen direct
contacts with the ukraine government in
zielensky, whom it has accused of
preparing his own attack against regions
of southeast ukraine controlled by
russian-backed forces. Ukraine has strongly denied the claims.
The ukraine defense minister aleksey
reznikov on friday told its parliament
that russia had an estimated 94,000
troops near the ukrainian border and may
be preparing an offensive beginning in
late january. U.S Officials have given similar
estimates of russian troop numbers and
potential timeline for an attack as
putin upped his rhetoric about the west
crossing russia's red lines in terms of
providing military support to the Kiev
government.
Both western and russian analysts have
said that moscow is making a credible
threat of launching a large-scale
military offensive. Although there are
differing estimates to how likely a
russian offensive is and what may
trigger it. This is the largest russian military
deployment completely out of cycle that
we've probably seen period, certainly
since 2014, said Michael Kaufman the
research program director in the russia
studies program at the CNA Security Think Tank.
Kaufman said the size of the buildup. The
second this year unusual troop movements
and efforts to prepare reservists were
far more elaborate than required to send
a credible threat to ukraine and its
western allies. You could intimidate or scare people
with a much smaller force, much more
visibly deployed, he said.
The russian government has accused Washington of creating war hysteria, but Putin has publicly directed government
officials to maintain high levels of
tension with the west to make sure that
its interests are not ignored.
