‘There were no minced words,’ Biden says of meeting with Putin
Invasion of Ukraine would come at cost, Moscow warned
U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow will face a severe economic pain if it tries to attack Ukraine, but promised prospective talks to address Russia’s concerns about NATO’s expansion.
Biden said he was “very straightforward” with Putin during their call Tuesday, warning the Russian leader that he will pay a heavy price if he invades Ukraine.
“There were no minced words,” Biden said at the White House before departing for Kansas City. “It was polite, but I made it very clear. If in fact he invades Ukraine, there will be severe consequences, severe consequences. Economic consequences like you’ve never seen. I am absolutely confident he got the message.”
Asked by reporters if he’d ruled out U.S. troops on the ground to stop Russia, Biden said “that’s not on the table,” saying that a U.S. obligation to protect NATO allies if they come under attack doesn’t extend to Ukraine, which is not in the Atlantic military alliance.
“The idea that the United States is going to unilaterally use force to confront Russia for invading Ukraine is not in the cards right now,” Biden said.
At the same time, he said that the U.S., its allies and Russia could sit down for talks to discuss Moscow’s grievances about NATO’s expansion.
“We hope by Friday we’re gonna be able to say, announce to you we’re having meetings at a higher level, not just with us, but with at least four of our major NATO allies, and Russia to discuss the future of Russia’s concern relative to NATO writ large and whether or not we could work out any accommodations as it relates to bringing down the temperature along the eastern front (in Ukraine),” Biden said.
Putin promised that Moscow will submit its proposals for a security dialogue with the U.S. in a few days. He reaffirmed his denial of planning to attack Ukraine, but said that Moscow can’t remain indifferent to NATO’s possible expansion to its neighbour. Putin, who entered Tuesday’s call with Biden looking for Western guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine, countered Western arguments that Russia has no say in the alliance expansion by arguing that security in Europe can only be mutual.