President Biden is prepared to remind Vladimir Putin via video conference on Tuesday that if Russia decides to invade nearby Ukraine, it would suffer crippling economic consequences.
Meanwhile, Biden seeks a peaceful resolution to the thousands and thousands of Russian soldiers massed near the Ukrainian border.
Biden’s Measures Seem Weak
As per White House sources, Biden wants to make it clear his government is prepared to take measures against the Russians that would have “a very serious impact” on the Russian economy.
Putin is anticipated to press Biden for assurances the NATO military coalition would never extend to include Ukraine, which has long desired participation. For the Americans, as well as their NATO allies, that’s a no-go.
In advance of the meeting, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “We’ve engaged extensively with our partners. We also think we have a route forward that will impose significant and serious impacts on the Russian economy.”
“I suppose you could call that a threat. That can be considered a fact. That’s what you’d call preparation. You are free to call it whatever you wish.”
Important meeting in Warsaw today.
The 11th Parliamentary Assembly of the Lublin Triangle was centered on joint responses to the two most pressing common threats:
1. The Russian military buildup at the Ukrainian border.
2. Lukashenka’s artificial migration crisis.
🇵🇱🇺🇦🇱🇹 pic.twitter.com/PjeTPcJqWv
— Visegrad 24 🇨🇿🇭🇺🇵🇱🇸🇰 (@visegrad24) December 7, 2021
The leader-to-leader meeting is expected to be among the most difficult of Biden’s administration, and it will take place at a critical juncture. Russian intelligence officers have gathered 70,000 troops along the Ukraine border.
They are also preparing for an assault early next year, according to US intelligence operatives.
Ukrainian officials said Russia is deploying tanks and commandos to war-torn eastern Ukraine to “arouse backfire.” This came in a statement made just hours before the leaders’ video conference.
Russia, according to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, is operating “training exercises under the supervision of regular Russian Armed Forces troops.” The charges have elicited no response from the Kremlin.
Intelligence on Putin’s Intentions is Sketchy
The US has yet to establish whether Putin made up his mind about invading. As per a senior government source who briefed journalists on the condition of anonymity, Biden aims to make it clear to Putin that military action will come at a “very substantial cost.”
@RepCarlos reacts to President Biden handling of foreign policy matters like the Russian military buildup near Ukraine, the Beijing Olympics, and the Iran nuclear deal.https://t.co/J2oP92G7ef
— Fox & Friends First (@FoxFriendsFirst) December 7, 2021
When Russian soldiers stormed into the Black Sea region of Crimea and took the land from Ukraine in 2014, Biden was vice president.
As Biden considers the current simmering problem, aides believe the Crimea experience weighs heavily. The Crimea incident was one of former President Obama’s darkest times in the international arena, according to aides.
NATO’s expansionism has been a source of controversy in both Moscow and Washington since its inception.
As President Bill Clinton’s foreign policy team disputed the scheduling of membership invites to ex-Soviet partners Poland, Hungary, and even the Czech Republic in 1996, Secretary of Defense William Perry argued for delaying offers in order to maintain good relations with Russia.
Perry claimed in his autobiography he considered retiring after losing the internal argument.
