“We are at a decisive moment,” said the US official in Berlin, regarding the conflict between Western countries and Moscow, due to the concentration of 100,000 Russian soldiers on the eastern flank of Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised Thursday that the United States and its allies would inflict “rapid and massive” costs on Russia should Vladimir Putin decide to invade Ukraine, the Voice of America ( VOA ) reported .
“We are at a decisive moment,” said the US official in Berlin, regarding the conflict between Western countries and Moscow over the concentration of 100,000 Russian soldiers on the eastern flank of Ukraine.
Blinken warned that Putin still has time to opt for a diplomatic solution and recalled that his nation has been “very clear at all times.”
“Should any Russian military force cross the border into Ukraine, it will be met with a swift and severe united response from the United States and our allies and partners,” Blinken said.
On his emergency tour of Europe , the head of US diplomacy has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, and was scheduled to meet this Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov; which would be the fourth time in the last week that officials from the United States and Russia have established a direct dialogue.
On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden declared that he considered a real possibility that Russia would invade Ukraine at an early date, but warned that Putin would have to take serious consequences for it.
“What if I think [Putin] will test the West, the United States and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), as significantly as he can? Yes, I think he will, but he will pay a heavy price.” high for doing it,” Biden said at a press conference at the White House, one year into his term.
The West demands that Russia withdraw its troops and weapons from the border with Ukraine, while Russia demands that NATO reduce its operations in Central and Eastern Europe and reject Ukraine’s application for membership.