Washington: US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that there was still time to resolve the Ukrainian crisis through diplomacy but warned that sanctions were “ready to go” if Russian forces attacked the country.
Biden said that despite the previous Russian claims on the day, Washington and his allies have not verified the withdrawal of some of the 150,000 troops he said Moscow has survived along the Ukrainian border.
“Analysts show that they remain very in a threatening position,” Biden said at a address about the crisis.
“The United States is prepared no matter what happens. We are ready with diplomacy,” US leader said.
“And we are ready to respond firmly against Russian attacks in Ukraine, which is still very many possibilities,” he said, warning “strong sanctions.”
Previously, the Ministry of Defense Moscow announced several soldiers and hardware leaving the border region to return to their base at the end of the planned exercise.
After Tuesday’s meeting with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow, President Vladimir Putin said Russia “of course” did not want war, and was willing to find a solution with the West.
“We are ready to work further together. We are ready to track negotiations,” Putin told a press conference along with Scholz, confirming “some backward troops.”
– ‘Not our enemy’ –
But Washington said he wanted to see the evidence of de-escalation, after a warning during the weekend that Russian forces were ready to attack Ukraine as soon as this week.
Biden, who spoke directly with Putin on Saturday, said there was a “real way” to overcome the security issues of both parties.
“We must provide diplomacy every opportunity to succeed,” he said.
In response to Putin’s concern that Ukraine will try to join NATO, and that the Alliance will put more strategic weapons on the Russian border, Biden said the United States has submitted “concrete ideas to build a security environment in Europe.”
However, he added in Ukraine: “We will not sacrifice basic principles. The nations have the right to territory sovereignty and integrity.”
He noted that Russia was not threatened by the United States, NATO or Ukraine.
“To Russian residents: You are not our enemy. And I don’t believe you want a bloody and destructive war against Ukraine,” he said.
– ‘Absurd’ situation-
Scholz seems to go further and convince Russia directly to Ukrainian-in-NATO questions.
After meeting Putin, he told German journalists that Ukraine would not join the NATO alliance.
“There is one fact: Ukraine joins NATO is not a command that day,” Scholz said.
“Everyone must take a step back and realize that we cannot have a military conflict on a question that is not in the agenda,” he said, by saying that such a situation will be “absurd.”
But Washington doubled his challenge to Moscow. In a call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the State Secretary Antony Blinken also demanded proof of withdrawal.
Blinken “emphasizes the need to see the de-escalation that can be verified, credible, meaningful,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.
– Cyberattack-
Kyiv remains tense after a series of cyberattacks close the website of the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces and two state banks.
For weeks, defense experts have predicted that the Russian invasion will be preceded by the cyber offensive.
The affected sites include the Savings Bank of Oschadbank and Private – two largest financial institutions in the country.
Both continued service later on Tuesday, but military sites remained inaccessible after the initial report of the attack appeared.
The Ministry of Defense site showed an error message that said it was “technical maintenance.”
In a separate step which is likely to be angry with Kyiv, Russian parliamentarians chose Tuesday to urge Putin to recognize two regions that separate themselves in East Ukraine as “sovereign and independent countries.”
Two regions, Donetsk and Lugansk, have a large and large pro-Moscow population that has been locked in a deadly fight with Kyiv since 2014, with conflict claims around 14,000 lives.
String on their independent republic will end the Minsk agreement on the peace agreement for the ongoing war, and has the potential to open the door to bring Russian troops.