Washington (AFP) – February 19, 2022. 02:56
Biden: Putin “made his decision” to invade Ukraine
- Biden: Russia is trying to create a “false justification” for war on Ukraine
- Biden: Russia intends to attack Ukraine in the next “days”
- Biden tells Russia it’s not too late to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis
US President Joe Biden announced on Friday that he was “confident” that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin He “made his decision” to invade Ukraine, stressing at the same time that it was “not too late” to reach a diplomatic solution to this crisis.
“I’m confident he made the decision,” Biden said in a letter from the White House. “We have reasons to believe that.”
but USA President He stressed that as long as the invasion did not take place, “diplomacy remains an option,” noting that his Foreign Minister, Anthony Blinken, will meet his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, next Thursday in Europe.
The US president noted that Russia is trying to create a “false justification” for launching a war on Ukraine.
Earlier, White House Deputy National Security Adviser Dalip Singh told reporters that Russia “will become a pariah state for the international community. It will be isolated from international financial markets and deprived of the most advanced technological contributions.”
confirmed that United State “Ready” in case Russia tries to use energy resources as leverage.
“We have taken measures (…) to coordinate with the largest energy consumers and producers to ensure that we have uninterrupted energy supplies and stable energy markets,” Singh told reporters.
Washington has previously confirmed that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which links Russia with Germany by sea, will not start operating if Ukraine is invaded.
