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Biden Says Attack On Ukraine Still Possible, As West Looks To Verify Russian Troop Pullback

By RFE/RL February 15, 2022

U.S. President Joe Biden says a Russian attack on Ukraine is still "very much a possibility," but high-level diplomacy to resolve the crisis over Russia's military buildup will continue in consultation with allies.

The United States and its NATO allies are prepared for whatever happens, Biden said, warning that if Russia invades Ukraine, Washington "will rally the world to oppose its aggression" and Russia will pay a steep economic price.

Powerful sanctions against Russia are "ready to go," if Russia invades, Biden said in televised remarks on February 15.

Biden also said the United States had not yet verified Russia's claim that some of its forces have moved away from the Ukrainian border. Russia said earlier that some units participating in military exercises would begin returning to their bases.

Biden also gave a revised estimate on the number of Russian troops near the border, saying there were 150,000, up from an earlier U.S. estimate of 130,000.

The U.S. president said that if Russia attacked Ukraine, it would be without cause or reason and the human cost would be immense.

As for Russian security demands, Biden said that there were real ways to address them, along with U.S. and NATO security concerns.

Earlier on February 15, President Vladimir Putin said following talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow that Russia had decided to partially withdraw troops from areas around the border with Ukraine and saw some room for further discussion with the West.

The Russian leader sparked fears of large-scale war in Europe after amassing troops on Ukraine's border as he seeks to coerce Kyiv and the West into making security concessions.

Putin said during the meeting with Scholz that he was open to further talks with the West on his demands, easing concerns over an imminent attack on Ukraine.

"We are ready to work further together. We are ready to go down the negotiations track," Putin told a joint press conference with Scholz as he confirmed an earlier Russian Defense Ministry statement of a partial pullback of troops.

Scholz said he saw some hints of progress in his talks with Putin and called the move to pull back some troops, which has yet to be independently detailed and verified, a "good sign" toward de-escalating a crisis that has threatened to break out into military conflict.

Diplomatic options were "far from exhausted," he added after more than three hours of talks with the Russian leader.

"There were enough points of departure indicating a good development," he said. "It shows that it is worth sticking with it and trying to make progress despite broad points of disagreement."

Speaking in Brussels, Stoltenberg said the comments coming from Moscow were "grounds for cautious optimism," but added that the alliance had yet to see any proof of a Russian troop withdrawal.

The Kremlin in December issued a list of demands to the United States and NATO calling on the U.S.-led military alliance to end its eastern expansion, including a ban on Ukrainian membership.

The Kremlin also called for NATO to roll back all its advances in Central and Eastern Europe since the collapse of the Soviet Union as it seeks to undo what it considers to be an unfavorable outcome to the end of the Cold War.

So far, 14 countries in Central and Eastern Europe have joined NATO and more are seeking admission in large part to protect themselves from Russian aggression.

The United States and NATO have rejected Russia's core demands, saying countries should be free to choose their own foreign policy, but have left the door open to talks on other issues raised by the Kremlin, including missile deployment and transparency of military exercises.

In London, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that while Britain too saw signs of a diplomatic opening with Russia over Ukraine, the latest intelligence was still not encouraging.

"Going into today clearly there are signs of a diplomatic opening, there always has been an opportunity to talk, there are grounds for a conversation about Ukraine, with Ukraine -- and that's good. We are seeing Russian openness to conversations," Johnson told reporters.

"On the other hand, the intelligence that we're seeing today is still not encouraging," he said.

Putin said Russia "of course" did not want to see the outbreak of war in Europe but added he was disappointed that there had not been a constructive response to Russia's security demands.

"We are ready to work further together. We are ready to go down the negotiations track," he said of continued dialogue on missiles and other security issues with the West.

He also claimed without presenting any evidence that Ukraine was committing "genocide" in its eastern regions, where many native Russian-speakers live.

The comment raised concern of a provocation for an invasion, as Putin has said in the past that Moscow is ready to protect ethnic Russians outside its borders.

Scholz called Putin's "genocide" statement "wrong."

Russia began its most recent troop buildup in late October before pressing for the sweeping security demands.

The Kremlin's aggressive action has sparked a whirlwind of diplomacy over the past two months as Western allies attempt to deter an invasion. Putin and Biden have spoken at least three times since December.

The West has threatened to impose severe sanctions on Russia should it invade Ukraine. However, the United States and its European allies have differences over which sanctions to impose and what military actions would trigger them, something some analysts say Putin is seeking to exploit.

Germany is heavily dependent on Russian energy to fuel its economy, Europe's largest.

Biden said last week at a White House meeting with Scholz that he would impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2, the new Russian natural-gas pipeline to Germany, if the Kremlin proceeded with an attack on Ukraine.

Scholz declined to say whether Berlin was ready to put the $11 billion pipeline on the sanctions table.

Nord Stream 2 would reroute gas destined for Germany under the Baltic Sea, circumventing an existing land route through Ukraine and depriving Kyiv of about $2 billion in transit fees.

During the press conference with Scholz, Putin reiterated that Russian-German energy cooperation remained a priority for Moscow and called Berlin a key partner.

Putin claimed Nord Stream 2 would guarantee European energy security, a claim Washington rejects.

Scholz's trip to the Russian capital follows similar trips for crisis talks last week by Macron and two British ministers.

Scholz, who met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on February 14 in Kyiv, had urged Russia to take immediate steps toward reducing the tensions triggered by the buildup of troops and military hardware near the border with Ukraine.

Russia has insisted it has no plan to invade but at the same time has said it wants guarantees on European security issues, including a commitment by NATO not to expand to countries like Ukraine, or another former Soviet republic, Georgia.

However, Russia's envoy to the European Union warned on February 15 that Moscow could invade Ukraine if "provoked" by an attack on Russian citizens inside the country.

"We will not invade Ukraine unless we are provoked to do that," Vladimir Chizhov was quoted as saying by Russia's RIA Novosti news agency.

Chizhov's comments follow repeated warnings by Washington that Russia is planning so-called "false flag" incidents as a pretext for an invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. warnings were echoed by British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who said on February 15 that an imminent invasion of Ukraine remained very probable, and Russian troops could reach Kyiv "very, very quickly."

"It is still the case that an invasion could be imminent, and it is highly likely," she said.

Amid U.S. warnings of a possible imminent Russian invasion, Zelenskiy decreed February 16 a day of unity.

U.S. intelligence has reportedly indicated February 16 as a possible date for Russian military action.

"We are told that February 16 will be the day of the invasion, we will make it the day of unity," Zelenskiy said in a video on the evening of February 14.

Ukrainians are expected to raise flags across the country and sing the anthem at 10 a.m. local time. "Let's show the whole world our unity," Zelenskiy said.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, TASS, and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-scholz- putin-meeting/31704167.html

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Biden Says Attack On Ukraine Still Possible, As West Looks To Verify Russian Troop Pullback