The United States warned this Sunday of the high possibility of a Russian attack on Ukraine “very soon”, and its president Joe Biden reiterated the commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of that country.
US government security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a televised interview today that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen “at any time. “
“We can’t predict the day exactly, but a Russian invasion of Ukraine could start at any time, including as early as this week,” Sullivan said in an interview on CNN.
The White House security adviser indicated that the analysis by US Intelligence of the positioning and maneuvers undertaken in recent days by the Russian Armed Forces determines that the possibility of an attack “very soon” on Ukraine is high . .
In another morning interview on CBS, Sullivan reiterated that in the event of a war between Russia and Ukraine, President Biden has no intention of sending US troops to fight the Russians.
For his part, Biden spoke this Sunday by phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodímir Zelensky, to whom he reiterated his country’s commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in the face of a possible attack by Russia.
As reported by the White House in a statement, the US president told Zelensky that the US will respond “quickly and decisively” together with its allies and partners to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Both leaders opted to continue seeking a diplomatic path to the conflict and to deter the accumulation of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border.
The conversation between Biden and Zelensky lasted 51 minutes.
Biden spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Saturday, warning him that the US and its allies will quickly impose “severe costs” on Russia if it invades Ukraine.
The US president also told Putin that while the US is prepared for the diplomatic track on the situation in Ukraine, it is “equally prepared” for scenarios other than diplomacy.
The US president told his Russian counterpart that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would cause “widespread human suffering” and reduce Russia’s prestige in the world.
In parallel, the Ukrainian government demanded this Sunday a meeting in the next 48 hours with Russia and all the countries participating in the Vienna Document of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) after Moscow ignored the ultimatum it had to respond in detail about his military activities near the Ukrainian border.
Tensions between Kyiv and Moscow have increased since last November after Russia stationed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border, which triggered alarms in Ukraine and the West, which denounced the preparations for an invasion.
Last December, Russia demanded binding security guarantees from the US and NATO to prevent the Atlantic Alliance from expanding further east and deploying offensive weapons near its borders.
Moscow also recently wrote a letter to all OSCE member countries asking them to position themselves on what they understand by indivisible security in Europe.
Despite all diplomatic efforts, a de-escalation has not been achieved so far.
Russia alleges that it has the sovereign right to station troops anywhere on its territory and in turn denounces the massive supply of weapons to Ukraine by the West.