“Russia will pay a heavy price” if any troops cross the border, Biden warns
President Biden insisted Thursday that the United States would not accept even a “minor incursion” of Ukraine by Russia and that “Russia will pay a heavy price” if any troops cross the border.
The White House had to clarify Biden’s earlier remarks that suggested that a “minor incursion” by Russia into Ukraine may not draw the same response as a full-scale invasion.
Biden told reporters during a conference on Wednesday evening that “Russia will be held accountable if it invades. And it depends on what it does. It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do, et cetera.” When asked to clarify what he meant by “minor incursion”, President Joe Biden explained that even a “minor incursion” of Ukraine will not be acceptable.
“I’ve been absolutely clear with President Putin. He has no misunderstanding. If any — any — assembled Russian units move across Ukrainian border, that is an invasion. But it will be met with severe and coordinated economic response that I’ve discussed in detail with our allies, as well as laid out very clearly for President Putin,” Biden said.
His comments prompted questions over the US response to Russian aggression. “We have been very clear throughout,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday, adding that any Russian incursion into Ukraine would be met with a “swift, severe and united response” from the US and its allies.
Ukrainian President hits back at Biden comments
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in a subtle but strongly worded tweet has hit back at remarks made by his US counterpart Joe Biden. “We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations. Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones. I say this as the President of a great power,” Zelensky said.
Russia has amassed nearly 100,000 troops near the border but denies planning an invasion. President Vladimir Putin has made a series of demands to the West, insisting that Ukraine should never be allowed to join Nato.
