Vice President Biden: Russia must show seriousness in diplomacy
“Attacking a NATO member state is an attack on all members, and the United States and its allies are ready in the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine,” said the US vice president, who is in Germany to attend the Munich Security Conference in Germany. The answer is to use sanctions.
He continued: “We have made it clear that we welcome diplomacy; At present, it is the responsibility of Russia to show its seriousness in diplomacy.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stated that the end of tensions over Ukraine does not depend on Russia, and that the United States and some of its allies and NATO are creating tensions.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has claimed that Russia has added “leading forces” to its troops on the Ukrainian border, despite developments over the past 24 to 48 hours, despite Russia announcing a reduction in its forces.
“Everything we see is part of a scenario to create false provocations and then respond to those provocations and ultimately invade Ukraine,” he said at a Munich security conference on Friday.
“What Russia has done in recent days has made the United States aware,” Blinken said.
The US envoy to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also claimed that 190,000 Russian troops were now stationed near the Kiev border, despite Moscow’s announcement that it was reducing its forces on the Ukrainian border.
Michael Carpenter, the US ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said Friday that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has found evidence that 169,000 to 190,000 Russian troops are currently on Ukraine’s borders. These estimates were about 100,000 Russian troops on January 30.
US officials and allies allege that Russia may invade Ukraine in the coming days, despite allegations that Russia invaded Ukraine failed on February 15 and 16.
US President Joe Biden says he thinks Russia will attack Ukraine in the next few days.
Despite Western claims, Moscow has repeatedly stated that it has no intention of launching a military strike on Ukraine and is seeking security guarantees to prevent the development of a US-led NATO military alliance.
US-Western relations with Russia have been strained since 2014 following the annexation of the Crimean peninsula to Russia; The West has repeatedly imposed sanctions on Ukraine under the pretext of Russian interference in Ukraine’s internal affairs, but Moscow denies the West’s claim.