Blinken says Putin is ‘chasing the world’ with his Ukrainian trick

dept. Antony Blinken stepped up his rhetoric with Russia, accusing Vladimir Putin of ‘gasping’ the world, while the State Department denied reports that President Biden was willing to reduce the presence of US troops in Eastern Europe in exchange for Moscow withdrawing its troops. from the Ukrainian border.

Next week Then Foreign ministers, senior US and Russian officials and the NATO-Russia Council will take part in a number of meetings in Europe following a telephone conversation between Biden and Putin last week.

While the U.S. remains unclear whether Russia is serious about negotiations, U.S. officials are willing to offer mutual drawing in this region of the world, he says. NBC News report.

State Department spokesman Ned Price denied the report.

“It is not true that the administration is developing options for the withdrawal of US forces in Eastern Europe in preparation for discussions with Russia next week, which we told NBC while reporting on this story,” he wrote on Twitter.

“In fact, we have been clear with Russia, both publicly and privately, that in the event of a further Russian invasion of Ukraine, we would strengthen our partners on the eastern side, to whom we have a sacred commitment as allies.”

Blinken, who will attend talks next week, seemed pessimistic that Russia would agree, as he stepped in with rhetoric against the former Soviet Union.

“No one should be surprised if Russia launches a provocation or incident and then tries to use it to justify military intervention in the hope that by the time the world realizes the trick, it will be too late,” Blinken told reporters Friday. “The idea that Ukraine is the aggressor in this situation is absurd.”

Blinken has accused Russia of ‘gassing’ the world with accusations that Ukraine is provoking a fight.

In addition to its military aggression, Moscow has also sought to undermine Ukraine’s democratic institutions, interfered in Ukrainian politics and elections, blocked energy and trade to intimidate its leaders and put pressure on citizens, used mistrust propaganda, and launched cyber attacks. on the country’s critical infrastructures, and then Russia started last March and continued until the fall a massive, unprovoked accumulation of forces and equipment on the Ukrainian border, ”Blinken said.

“We have seen this gas lighting before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, claiming that Ukraine was an aggressor justifying a pre-planned military action.”

Offers on the table next week could include talks on the scope of military exercises of both forces, the number of US troops stationed in the Baltic states and Poland, advance notification of the movement of forces and Russian Iskander missiles with nuclear capabilities in Russia. territory of Kaliningrad between Poland and Lithuania, sources told NBC News.

Of the approximately 70,000 U.S. troops stationed in Europe, approximately 6,000 are deployed to Eastern Europe on a rotating basis, of which approximately 4,000 are in Poland. Other NATO countries rotate thousands of troops into the region to protect the Alliance’s eastern front.

Any talk of a change in the US military presence in the region could raise an alarm for NATO allies in the region, especially Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. These countries rely on the help of the US and NATO to prevent Russia, as they were once dominated by the former Soviet Union.

Republicans also criticized the news of a possible fall at home.

‘Amazing and not just because of the weather. If Biden tried to signal weakness and surrender to Putin, what would he do differently? ‘ Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wrote on Twitter.

Representative Don Bacon, R-Neb., Compared Biden to former UK Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, known for his moves to appease Germany before World War II.

‘It’s a reassurance. Joe Biden becomes the new Neville Chamberlain. Putin gives the ultimate because he feels weak in the White House. We must stand by our Eastern European allies in NATO. ‘

The conference is taking place next week amid growing fears that Russia could invade Ukraine, sparking a war after Putin deployed 100,000 troops near the country’s eastern border, where Putin occupied the Crimea region in 2014.

Biden spoke with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, assuring him that the U.S. would “decisively” respond if Russia attacks.

Ukrainian officials have asked the U.S. and other Western governments to take stronger action to deter what they fear is some Russian invasion.

Last Friday, Biden said in his most direct language so far: “I will not negotiate in public here, but we have made it clear that he cannot – I emphasize, he cannot – invade Ukraine.

In a statement to reporters during a holiday stay in Delaware, the U.S. leader added that he had “made it clear to President Putin that we will have tough sanctions to increase our presence in Europe with NATO allies” if Russia attacks Ukraine.

Biden has threatened harsh sanctions if Putin invades, and the Russian leader is said to have said new sanctions would lead to a complete breakdown in relations between the two countries.