Ukraine crisis: Joe Biden is “convinced” that Russia will attack soon

Created: 02/19/2022, 07:17

By: Kerstin Kesselgruber

A Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a nightmare scenario.

But US President Joe Biden assumes that.

A diplomatic solution is being sought.

The news ticker.

• The Ukraine crisis * comes to a head.

  US President Joe Biden* firmly expects an attack from Russia*.

• Vladimir Putin * wants to have a large military maneuver held on Saturday, which he personally oversees.

• The conflict is also likely to dominate the deliberations at the Munich Security Conference with Chancellor Olaf Scholz* and US Vice President Kamala Harris*.

>>> Update news ticker <<<

Washington/Kiev - US President Joe Biden is "convinced" that Russia will attack Ukraine soon.

"We have reason to believe that the Russian military is planning and planning to attack Ukraine in the coming week, in the coming days," Biden said at the White House.

"We believe that they will attack the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, a city with 2.8 million innocent people." The conflict is also likely to dominate the deliberations at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday (February 19, 2022), where speeches by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD ) and US Vice President Kamala Harris were expected.

Despite the Russian military build-up near the Ukrainian border, the US government had emphasized for weeks that it was unclear whether Moscow really wanted to invade the neighboring country.

Based on the latest findings, however, he is now "convinced" that Russian President Vladimir Putin "made the decision," said Biden on Friday (02/18/2022, local time).

"We have reasons to believe so."

Mariusz Blaszczak (center left), Secretary of Defense of Poland, and Lloyd Austin (center), Secretary of Defense of the United States, visit US troops stationed at Powidz Air Force Base on Friday.

Because of the Ukraine crisis, the USA has significantly increased its military presence in the NATO country Poland.

© Czarek Sokolowski/dpa

Ukraine conflict: If invaded, Russia would be responsible for 'catastrophic' war

The US government is speaking so openly about Russia's plans to thwart Moscow's efforts to attack Ukraine under a pretext, Biden said.

If Russia were to go ahead with its plans, it would be responsible for a "catastrophic" and self-initiated war.

Moscow is trying to portray Ukraine as an aggressor, using misinformation such as an allegedly planned offensive in the eastern Donbass region, Biden said.

"There is no evidence to back up these claims, and it goes against common sense to think that Ukrainians would choose this moment, with more than 150,000 troops on the border, to escalate a years-long conflict," Biden said.

The Ukrainian military has so far acted with good judgment and also "restraint".

"They refuse the Russians to drag them into a war," Biden said.

It is a fact that Russian troops have "surrounded" Ukraine, Biden stressed.

Russia has denied Western accusations of planning an invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine crisis: Biden emphasizes the unity of the West towards Russia

Biden emphasized the unity of the West towards Putin.

"Despite Russia's efforts to divide us at home and abroad, I can confirm that this has not happened," Biden said.

He had phoned Western heads of state and government.

The "overwhelming message" was that of unity and determination.

Biden stressed that it was not too late to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

In the event of an escalation, he again threatened severe sanctions.

Against the background of the tense situation in the Ukraine conflict, Russia has announced another military maneuver for Saturday.

The exercise involving strategic troops and ballistic missiles will be personally overseen by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

According to the Kremlin, the air force, army units from the southern military district and the Black Sea and North Sea fleets are taking part in the maneuver.

Ukraine crisis: NATO increases the readiness of soldiers

On the fringes of the expert meeting on security policy in Munich on Saturday, the foreign ministers of the leading democratic economic powers also wanted to coordinate further action in the conflict with Russia.

Germany chairs this Group of Seven (G7), which also includes the USA*, Great Britain*, France, Italy, Canada and Japan.

In view of the tensions with Russia, the NATO supreme commander in Europe drastically reduced the standby times for tens of thousands of alliance soldiers.

According to information from the German press agency from NATO circles *, forces of the NRF rapid reaction force must be able to be relocated within just 7 days instead of 30 in the future.

A so-called "Notice-to-Move" period of 30 instead of 45 days now applies to other units.

The US government had recently relocated around 5,000 additional soldiers to Eastern Europe.

According to international observers, there has been a massive increase in ceasefire violations in the Donbass conflict zone in eastern Ukraine.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission registered hundreds of cases of shelling in the region, where Western-armed Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists are facing each other.

(kke/dpa/AFP)