Biden Rules Out U.S. Force if Russia Invades Ukraine

"President Biden said Wednesday he hoped to convene meetings between Russia and NATO allies to discuss Moscow's troop buildup along the Ukrainian border, and ruled out the unilateral use of U.S. force if Russia invades its neighbor.

 

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't fully close the door on an invasion, saying he was responding to a "creeping threat" from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

 

The two leaders spoke a day after they held a two-hour video call to address what the U.S. has described as large and unusual troop movements near Russia's border with Ukraine in recent weeks.

 

Mr. Biden cited "the good news" that Russian and U.S. officials had been holding talks and that he hoped that by Friday, the U.S. could announce high-level meetings among Washington, Moscow and at least four NATO allies. The talks, he said, would comprise discussion of Russia's concerns on NATO "writ large," and the possibility of "accommodations" on NATO's eastern flank.

 

Mr. Putin told Russian broadcaster TV5 that his conversation with Mr. Biden was "open, substantive and constructive," but added "there is no particular reason for optimism so far."

On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was expected to speak with Mr. Biden on Thursday, said he viewed the talks between Messrs. Biden and Putin positively.

"I believe that Ukraine's victory lies in the fact that the United States has always supported Ukraine, our sovereignty and independence," Mr. Zelensky said at a joint news conference Wednesday after talks with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. "We had bipartisan support, but most importantly, what we now see is that there is a real personal reaction and a personal role on the part of President Biden in resolving this conflict, settling the war in the eastern part of our state," he said.

Beyond raising the potential for multilateral talks addressing Mr. Putin's concerns, the U.S. president warned Russia would face "economic consequences like none he's ever seen" if he invaded Ukraine and that an attack would prompt the U.S. to reinforce a presence in NATO countries and provide support to Ukraine. Asked if he would rule out troops on the ground in Ukraine, Mr. Biden said that is "not on the table."

Mr. Biden said the U.S. has no obligation to defend Ukraine militarily, as it is not a NATO member. But he indicated the extent of U.S. defense involvement would "depend upon what the rest of the NATO countries were willing to do as well."

"But the idea that the United States is going to unilaterally use force to confront Russia invading Ukraine is not in the cards right now," he said.

A Russian invasion of Ukraine would be one of the most significant military actions in Europe since the Cold War's end, posing a security challenge for the European Union, Western European powers and NATO.

 

The U.S. has trained and advised Ukrainian troops since 2015, a major sore point for Mr. Putin, and within the past few weeks a deployment of the Florida National Guard rotated into the country.

 

The U.S. also conducts regular military exercises in Poland and Romania, and maintains rotational deployments in the Baltics." [1]

 

1. World News: Biden Rules Out U.S. Force if Russia Invades Ukraine
Lucey, Catherine. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 09 Dec 2021: A.11.