Biden warns Putin US will react ‘decisively and impose swift and severe costs’

“The two Presidents agreed that our teams will stay engaged in the days ahead,” the official told reporters after the call. “Russia may decide to proceed with military action anyway. Indeed, that is a distinct possibility.”

The official said that Biden reiterated the US’ ideas on how to enhance European security while also addressing some of Russia’s security concerns, but noted that it “remains unclear whether Russia is interested in pursuing its goals diplomatically.”

Asked whether Russia has made a decision to invade, the official said, “I think the honest answer to that question is we don’t have full visibility into President Putin’s decision making.”

“But you know, we are not basing our assessment of this on what the Russians say publicly,” the official continued. “We are basing his assessment on what we are seeing on the ground … which is a continued Russian buildup on the border with Ukraine, and no meaningful evidence of de-escalation, or really of any interest in de-escalation.”

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov described the call Saturday as “balanced and businesslike,” but said the US and NATO had failed to address Russia’s main security concerns.

Ushakov said the conversation “took place in an atmosphere of hysteria about the supposedly imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine by American officials, everyone knows this.”

Ushakov added: “The pressure around the topic of the invasion was carried out in a coordinated manner and the hysteria has reached its climax.”

According to Ushakov, Biden told Putin he was “committed to the diplomatic path and had laid out a range of considerations that he sees as addressing many of Russia’s concerns.” Putin said the US and its allies had been “pumping up” Ukraine with new weaponry and encouraging provocations by Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region and in Crimea, Ushakov said.

“At the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, the global information space faced a media campaign unprecedented in its scale and sophistication, the purpose of which is to convince the world community that the Russian Federation is preparing an invasion of the territory of Ukraine,” the Ministry said in a statement published on its website.

All eyes on Ukraine

“We obviously cannot predict the future, we don’t know exactly what is going to happen. But the risk is now high enough and the threat is now immediate enough that this is what prudence demands,” he said.

In Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko outlined preparations the city is taking to safeguard “critical and social infrastructure facilities” in “the event of a possible emergency.”

In the statement issued on Telegram ahead of the weekend, Klitschko said, “Our efforts are aimed at preventing or overcoming both possible provocations and withstanding a military attack.”

The senior administration official on Saturday said that US will continue, and even increase, its support for Ukraine to help it defend itself should Russia continue to escalate its aggression.

“As to our plans going forward, I think President Biden and other officials have been clear, that should Russia continue down the path to escalation, the United States will continue to increase our support to Ukraine, to enable it to defend itself, and you know, that approach has not changed,” the official said.

The call on Saturday was the latest attempt at diplomacy between the two leaders aimed at de-escalating the situation. Putin and…