Joe Biden however repeated that there was no question of sending soldiers to Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO.
Joe Biden maintained pressure on Moscow on Friday by announcing the upcoming dispatch of a limited number of soldiers to Eastern Europe. “I will send American troops to Eastern Europe and NATO countries soon, not a lot”, announced Friday, January 28 the American president, without further details. The United States has already placed 8,500 soldiers on alert to reinforce NATO.
Joe Biden has however said and repeated that there was no question of sending American troops to Ukraine, which is not a member of the military alliance. Sending troops to eastern countries would be an additional means of pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, who the Americans believe could attack Ukraine in February.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin estimated that with more than 100,000 Russian troops deployed on Ukraine’s borders, Russia had amassed sufficient forces for an invasion, but he stressed that a conflict between Ukraine and Russia was not “not inevitable”. “There is still time and scope for diplomacy”he added.
In London, Boris Johnson said to himself “determined to accelerate diplomatic efforts and strengthen deterrence to avoid bloodshed in Europe”, according to a Downing Street spokeswoman on Friday evening. The British Prime Minister is to meet in the coming days with Vladimir Putin, before traveling to the region.
Fierce penalties
“The probability of the attack exists, it has not disappeared and it has not been less serious in 2021”corn “we do not see any escalation higher than that which existed” last year, for his part declared Volodymyr Zelensky, during a press conference in Kiev. “We don’t need this panic”he stressed, while calling on Russia to “take steps to prove” She’s not going to attack. “The biggest risk for Ukraine” currently it is “the destabilization of the situation inside the country”he estimated.
Russia denies any plan of invasion, but considers itself threatened by the expansion of NATO for 20 years and by Western support for Ukraine. It therefore linked the de-escalation to the end of the policy of enlargement of the Atlantic Alliance, in particular to Ukraine, and to the return of Western military deployments to the 1997 borders. The United States and NATO have formally rejected Wednesday these requests.
Read alsoUkraine: Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin seek de-escalation
Europeans and Americans have promised fierce and unprecedented sanctions in the event of an attack on Ukraine. Were mentioned the strategic gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 between Russia and Germany, or even the access of Russians to transactions in dollars, the queen currency in international trade. Washington and the European Union said in a joint statement on Friday that they were working to provide “additional volumes of natural gas” destined for Europe, in order to deal with a possible backlash from a “new Russian invasion of Ukraine”.
The United States also seized the UN Security Council on Thursday, demanding a meeting on Monday because of the “clear threat” what does Russia weigh in their eyes oninternational peace and security”.