‘They’ll pay for it’: Joe Biden warns Russia against Ukraine attack

The tone is set. During a White House press conference on Thursday, Joe Biden warned that the situation “could spiral out of control” if Russia attacked Ukraine. Shortly thereafter, the White House promised, in a press release, a response “severe” if ever Russian troops entered Ukraine.

“If Russian military forces cross the border of Ukraine, it will constitute a new invasion” which will attract “a swift, severe and united response from the United States and our allies”, said his spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

While, from Kiev, its Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Moscow to choose the “peaceful way” Two days before a new Russian-American diplomatic face-to-face, the President of the United States blew hot and cold on Wednesday during a long press conference.

“I think he still doesn’t want a full-scale war”, he launched about his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. However, “he will test the West”. “I think he will come back” in Ukraine one way or another, “he’s going to have to do something”, said Joe Biden. “If it’s a minor incursion”, NATO members are likely to be divided on the extent of the response, but if the Russians “do what they can with the forces they have massed on the border, it will be a disaster for Russia”, he insisted. The situation could “get out of control”, he was alarmed.

“If they invade, they will pay for it, they will no longer be able to go through the banks, they will not be able to make transactions in dollars”, he warned, referring, in addition to these unprecedented sanctions against the Russian economy, to the risk of “heavy” casualties on the battlefield.

After a series of diplomatic talks in Europe last week, Moscow and Washington are due to try again on Friday to defuse the threat of a new conflict in Ukraine during a face-to-face meeting in Geneva between Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart. Sergei Lavrov.

But the head of American diplomacy has already warned that he will not satisfy, during the meeting in Switzerland, the Russian request for a written commitment to his requirements. And at the same time, the United States announced new aid “defensive security” 200 million dollars to Ukraine, in addition to the 450 million in military assistance already granted.

“I strongly hope that we can stay on a diplomatic and peaceful path, but in the end it will be President Putin’s decision.”, said in Kiev Antony Blinken, who met on Wednesday with President Volodymyr Zelensky and his head of diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba. He reiterated that some Russian demands were “clearly, absolutely, doomed to fail”, like the formal commitment never to enlarge NATO to Ukraine.

Russia has deployed tens of thousands of troops to the Ukrainian border, raising fears of an invasion. While denying any plan of attack, the Kremlin insists that a de-escalation requires written guarantees on its security.