AA / Washington
The White House announced on Saturday that US President Joe Biden had notified his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that invading Ukraine would result in “considerable humanitarian suffering”.
This is what emerges from an hour-long telephone conversation between the two heads of state, according to the White House, once morest the backdrop of the deployment of Russian military forces on the borders of Ukraine.
President Biden reaffirmed, according to the statement, that a “new Russian invasion of Ukraine would cause considerable humanitarian suffering and weaken Russia’s position”.
Biden also affirmed that Washington, its allies and its partners will react “resolutely” and impose “severe and rapid” sanctions on Moscow if Russia were to invade Ukraine once more.
The White House stressed that President Biden has been “clear” with President Putin, that as much as Washington remains ready to favor diplomacy, in full coordination with its allies and partners, as much as it is ready, in the same way, to other scenarios.
Earlier in the day on Saturday, the United States State Department had ordered the majority of its personnel (non-essential civil servants) to leave its embassy in the capital Kiev.
In the same vein, the United States had indicated on Friday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine might take place “at any time”.
Russia has stationed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, sparking fears the Kremlin is planning another military attack on the former Soviet republic.
Russia has denied any intention to invade Ukraine, accusing Western countries of undermining its security through NATO expansion to its borders.
The Kremlin has drawn up a list of security requests addressed to the West, in particular with regard to withdrawing from the deployment of NATO forces in certain states of the former USSR, and guarantees not to not bring Ukraine and Georgia into the Transatlantic Alliance.
*Translated from Arabic by Hatem Kattou
Only part of the dispatches, which Anadolu Agency broadcasts to its subscribers via the Internal Broadcasting System (HAS), is broadcast on the AA website, in a summarized manner. Please contact us to subscribe.
