Tensions over Ukraine have been rising in recent times. NATO speaks of the largest Russian military activity since the annexation of Crimea. Last month, US intelligence agencies warned of a possible invasion, without making any predictions about when it could take place. Russia, meanwhile, says it is not threatening anyone. President Putin previously dismissed the warnings about Russian troop build-up as ‘rumours’.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov met in Stockholm on Thursday to discuss the situation over Ukraine, but the two did not get closer.
President Biden said yesterday that he was preparing measures that would make Putin “very, very difficult” to take military action in Ukraine. There will also be a phone call between the two leaders in the coming days. The last conversation between the two leaders was in July.
Red line
The Kremlin has already announced that Putin will ask for guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO and that the military alliance will not engage in activities in and around the country. If NATO brings weapons or troops into Ukraine, a “red line” would be crossed, the Kremlin says.
Biden said today that he “will not accept red lines from anyone”. He said the US has known about the Russian actions for a long time. “My expectation is that we will have a long discussion with Putin,” the president said. US and Ukrainian officials warned this week that tough economic sanctions against Russia are on the table.
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