The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Russia to pay ‘heavy price’ if it invades
US president Joe Biden has said that any Russian troop movements across Ukraine’s border would constitute an invasion, saying that Moscow would “pay a heavy price” for such an action.
His stark warning to Russian president Vladimir Putin came in remarks from the White House and was another effort to clear up any confusion about the position of the US and its Nato allies.
Mr Biden was heavily criticised on Wednesday for saying a “minor incursion” by Russia would elicit a lesser response.
“I’ve been absolutely clear with president Putin. Any, any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion,” Mr Biden said.
“Let there be no doubt at all, if Putin makes this choice, Russia will pay a heavy price.”
His comments came as US secretary of state Antony Blinken prepares to meet Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva today, in a highstakes bid to ease tensions that appears likely to fail.
On Wednesday, Mr Biden said he thought Moscow would invade and warned Mr Putin that his country would pay a “dear price” in lives lost and a possible cut-off from the global banking system if it did.
But he also prompted consternation among allies after saying the response to a Russian invasion “depends on what it does”.
“It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do, et cetera,” he said.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was among those expressing concern about Biden’s “minor incursion” remark.
“We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations. Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones,” he tweeted.
Earlier, Mr Blinken warned in Berlin at a news conference with his German counterpart: “If any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border and commit new acts of aggression against Ukraine, that will be met with a swift, severe, united response from the United States and our allies.”
Later, he accused Russia of threatening the foundations of world order with its build-up of an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine. He said Russia must face a concerted and severe global response if it invades.
Russia denies it is planning an invasion and, in turn, accused the West of plotting “provocations” in Ukraine, citing the delivery of weapons to the country by British military transports in recent days.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleged Ukrainian and Western talk of an imminent Russian attack was a “cover for staging large-scale provocations of their own, including those of military character”.