Foreign Ministers Blinken and Lavrov end talks in Geneva early

US President Joe Biden has made it clear that any border crossing of Russian troops into the Ukraine was to be regarded as an invasion. “Any assembled Russian unit that moves across the Ukrainian border – that’s an invasion,” Biden said Thursday in Washington. There’s no misunderstanding there. Biden stressed that Russia would pay a “heavy price” if they invaded.

The US President was reacting to the irritation that he had triggered with a statement the day before. Biden appeared to hint at a White House press conference on Wednesday that threatened sanctions from NATO could depend on the extent of a potential Russian invasion. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also asked about Biden’s statement during his visit to Berlin.

“Russia has a long history of using measures other than overt military action to carry out aggression”, Biden also said on Thursday. “We have to be prepared to react to them as well,” he warned. For months, the United States and NATO have accused Russia of planning an attack on Ukraine. Moscow rejects this.


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