Biden "convinced" Putin has decided to invade Ukraine
Tension remains high over the conflict on the Ukrainian border with the shadow of a possible invasion by Russia. Russia had announced the partial withdrawal of troops from the border area, but the United States continues to insist on Vladimir Putin's more than possible intention to carry out an invasion of Ukrainian territory.
In this regard, US President Joe Biden told the media that he is "convinced" that Russian President Vladimir Putin "has made the decision" to invade Ukraine, including the capital Kiev, in the near future, according to US intelligence reports.
"At this point I am convinced that he has made a decision. We have reason to believe it," Joe Biden told reporters. This worrying announcement by the American giant continues to increase tension in relation to the open political confrontation between Ukraine and Russia (which dates back to Ukrainian independence from the former Soviet Union and, above all, to the rebellious position of pro-Russian citizens living in the east of Ukrainian territory and who want to belong to the Russian Federation), in a complicated scenario as localised military clashes continue between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian army troops. "We have reason to believe that Russian forces are planning to and do intend to assault Ukraine next week, in the next few days," the US president said, adding that Russia is believed to be "targeting Kiev", which is already a situation of the utmost concern given that it is the capital of the Ukrainian state.
The clashes between pro-Russian units and members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are generating more instability in the area, and Russia also warned at the time that it would not allow threats or interference from Western organisations such as NATO on its own borders, alluding to Ukraine's rapprochement towards the West; in addition, the Russian country is also suggesting that Ukraine was allegedly preparing an attack on the Donbas region, in the eastern part of the Ukrainian country. Antony Blinken described these statements as provocative. The US Secretary of State recently pointed out that what we have been seeing from Russia in recent times is "part of a scenario to create false provocations in order to respond and commit a new aggression against Ukraine".
Russia already staged the unilateral annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, which was obviously considered illegal by Ukraine and also by the United States and the European Union. Now, the shadow of the Russian presence on the Ukrainian border is generating much concern about the military presence in the area.
This worrying situation continues despite the fact that the Russian media have in recent hours shown images of Russian troops withdrawing from the border to their own bases. The United States, however, does not take this into account and points to Vladimir Putin's presumed intention to invade Ukraine.
Despite all this, Joe Biden remains confident that diplomacy is the way to resolve the conflict. The US president continues to advocate political dialogue to avoid an armed confrontation. Biden called on Russia to "choose the diplomatic path". "It is not too late to de-escalate the tension and return to the negotiating table," Biden said, referring to the planned dialogue between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who are due to meet in principle on Wednesday.
In addition, Joe Biden said that the United States and its Western partners agree on the decision to enact tough economic sanctions against Russia if its armed forces definitively enter Ukrainian territory.
The upcoming talks and political contacts will be very important in order to reduce the existing tension between two powers such as the United States and Russia in the face of the conflict in Ukraine.
Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra
