Ukraine does not consider US President Joe Biden’s comments that a small-scale Russian invasion of the neighboring country would be treated differently from a major one deviating from US policy, a senior Ukrainian official has said.
Mikhail Pontoliak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said his country welcomed Biden’s reference to a coordinated Western response if Russia moved against Ukraine.
“It is not really worthwhile to look at what was said yesterday as something separate from the overall policy of the US government”, he wrote in a message to Reuters. “What was important for Ukrainian society to hear? The fact that the Western countries have jointly agreed that any negative scenario in relation to Ukraine or in Europe in general will provoke a coordinated, adequate and sensitive response”, Pontoliak added.
“At the same time, it is important to understand that diplomatic efforts at various levels continue and that the main goal of these efforts is to take steps to de-escalate”, he explained.
For its part, the Kremlin commented that US warnings of possible catastrophic consequences for Russia, do not help to de-escalate tensions over Ukraine and risk further destabilizing the situation.
“These statements are constantly repeated and do not contribute at all to the de-escalation of the current tension. In addition, they can contribute to the destabilization of the situation”, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov.
These statements “may create completely false hopes in the warm-blooded heads of some Ukrainian officials (…) who may try to use force to resolve the problem in southeastern Ukraine”, he added.
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During yesterday’s press conference for the one year of his presidency, Biden also referred to the issue of Ukraine. The Democratic president said that Vladimir Putin’s Russian counterpart would “move” against Ukraine, but added that he did not want “a large-scale war”.
He even warned Russia that it would “pay a heavy price” if it invaded Ukraine, but hinted that a smaller-scale invasion would be treated differently. “If it is a small invasion”, NATO countries risk splitting over the appropriate response, Biden said. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki later said Moscow would face “an immediate, rigorous and comprehensive response” from the United States and its allies if Russian forces crossed the Ukrainian border.
