Biden warned Zelensky to “prepare for the impact” and that Russian forces could attack Kiev, writes the Daily Mail.
President Joe Biden reportedly told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday to prepare his country for a Russian invasion. The head of the White House has warned his Ukrainian counterpart that an invasion is practically safe and that he should “prepare for the impact”, CNN reported. He said Kiev could be targeted by Russian forces. Biden told him that Ukraine would not receive much more military aid, including reiterating that no US troops would be deployed.
A Ukrainian official told CNN that the call between the two leaders “did not go well”. The warning was not part of a White House briefing after the call – and National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne called CNN’s information “untrue” in a tweet.
“Not true. President Biden said there was a clear possibility that the Russians would invade Ukraine in February. He has said this publicly before, and I have been warning about this for months. Reports about something more or different from that are completely false, “Horne wrote.
“No one said ‘fired’. “The only person who should be” fired “is the anonymous source who circulates an inaccurate presentation of this conversation,” Horne added in a statement to CNN.
Biden and Zelenski had a telephone conversation on Thursday as the Defense Department issued a horrific warning that afternoon that a Russian invasion of Ukraine “could be imminent” amid a sharp increase in fighting forces on the borders of the former Soviet state.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Twitter that “recent diplomatic efforts to ease the talks have been discussed and joint action for the future has been agreed. I thank President Joe Biden for his continued military assistance. Possibilities for financial support for Ukraine were also discussed. “
Washington is backing Ukraine in the face of Moscow after Russia deployed tens of thousands of troops near the border with Ukraine in recent weeks. However, Russia denies that it intends to attack its neighbor.
According to a White House statement, Joe Biden told Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday that the United States and its allies would respond “resolutely” to a Russian invasion and spoke of increased economic assistance, according to a press release.
The US president is “considering additional economic aid” for Ukraine, the White House said.
The United States has said it is preparing for severe economic sanctions in the event of an attack on Ukraine, has delivered military equipment to Kiev and is also willing to strengthen its military presence in Eastern Europe if necessary. However, a US military intervention in Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO, is ruled out.
At the same time, President Joe Biden assured his Ukrainian counterpart that the US embassy in Kiev continues to be “open and fully operational.”
Washington has made the decision to repatriate the families of diplomatic personnel, a decision that Ukraine has criticized as disproportionate.
In a telephone conversation on Thursday, the two presidents reiterated the principle that in this crisis there will be no “decision on Ukraine without Ukraine”.
The White House had previously said that this was the third US-Ukrainian presidency meeting in December.
President Joe Biden also expressed support for talks in the Normandy format (Russia and Ukraine, mediated by France and Germany). Following the recent meeting of political advisers in Paris, the next discussion is scheduled to take place in Berlin in the second week of February.
Pentagon says Russia’s deployment of forces near the border with Ukraine has increased in the last 24 hours
The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Thursday that “in the last 24 hours” there has been an increase in the deployment of military forces by Russia near the border with Ukraine.
“We continue to see, even in the last 24 hours, a greater accumulation of credible Russian fighting forces in the western part of the country and in Belarus,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. com.
He said the build-up was “not dramatic” but not “sclerotic”.
Washington is urging Beijing to use its “influence” on Moscow
China, which has just publicly stated Moscow’s “reasonable concerns”, must use its “influence” on Russia to discourage it from attacking Ukraine, US diplomat number three Victoria Nuland told AFP on Thursday.
“We call on Beijing to use its influence on Moscow to push for diplomacy, because if there is a conflict in Ukraine, it is not good for China either,” Victoria Nuland told reporters. “It would have a significant impact on the world economy and the energy sector,” he said.
The United States has also said that the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany will not be activated if Moscow invades Ukraine.
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