Biden: "I believe Putin decided to invade Ukraine... I have grounds for this judgment" (Update)

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Seulgina Jo] U.S. President Joe Biden stated on the 18th (local time) that there is reason to believe Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine within the next few days.

In a national address at the White House that afternoon, President Biden said, "Russian forces are currently surrounding Ukraine along the border," and added, "At this point, I am confident that he (President Putin) has made the decision."

He said, "There is reason to believe that Russian forces are planning to attack Ukraine 'in the coming week,'" then quickly corrected himself to say "in the coming days."

President Biden also mentioned that false information that Russia could use as a pretext for invading Ukraine is increasing. He pointed out, "This aligns with the pretext scenarios that the U.S. and its allies and partners have been warning about for weeks." Earlier, the West, including the U.S., had warned of a ‘false flag’ operation in which Russia would fabricate a preemptive attack to justify its invasion of Ukraine.

He said, "We are publicly exposing Russia’s plans loudly and repeatedly," and added, "We are doing everything possible to remove all reasons that would justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and prevent them from moving forward." He also emphasized, "The U.S. and its allies are prepared to defend NATO allies from threats to collective security."

President Biden left the door open for diplomacy, saying, "It is not too late to return to the negotiating table." He confirmed the upcoming meeting on the 23rd between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

However, this was conditional on Russia not invading. President Biden warned strongly, "If Russia takes military action before that date, it means they have closed the door on diplomacy," and "They have chosen war and will pay a severe price accordingly." He added, "Not only will we and our allies impose sanctions on Russia, but the entire world will be greatly angered at them."

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also confirmed the U.S.-Russia foreign ministers’ meeting next week during a press briefing, but said, "It is unclear whether Russia intends to come to the table in good faith." The location of the meeting was not disclosed, though reports suggest it will be in Geneva, Switzerland. President Biden confirmed it will be in Europe.

President Biden’s speech that day began nearly an hour later than the originally scheduled 4 p.m. Eastern Time. Before the speech, he spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss the Ukraine situation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.