Biden didn’t accept Putin’s ‘red line’ on Ukraine – what it means
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Russian President Vladimir Putin participates in a ceremony that bestows state awards to military personnel who served in Syria. It was held at Moscow’s Kremlin, on 28 December 2017.
Getty Images| AFP | Getty Images
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden didn’t accept Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s “red lines” on Ukraine during their high-stakes video call Tuesday that came as Russia’s military builds its presence on the Ukrainian border.
That means, the U.S. doesn’t agree with Putin’s demand for Ukraine to be excluded from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This is the most powerful military alliance in the world. A strike on any one NATO member is an attack against all.
As the situation stands, Ukraine isn’t in NATO. Biden, along with Western allies, has warned Moscow that an invasion will result in economic and political countermeasures.
Putin informed Biden in a telephone conversation that Ukraine must not apply to NATO. He also promised that Russia would not attack the country. Since 2002, Ukraine has been seeking acceptance to the alliance.
Biden is determined to communicate to Russia that its administration will be more tough than 2014’s annexe of Crimea by Russian forces.
Jake Sullivan, national security advisor to the government, told reporters on Tuesday that Biden had not made any concessions or commitments in relation to Putin’s red lines.
“He [Biden]Sullivan stated that he supports the idea of countries being able to choose with whom they want to associate.”
Russia does not want Ukraine to join NATO
NATO’s expansion to the east has been characterized by Russia’s Kremlin as a security threat. The Kremlin argued that Ukraine’s acceptance in NATO could lead to NATO troops moving on Russia’s border.
Putin has repeatedly stated that Ukraine is part of Russia’s cultural and historical heritage. When asked by Mary Ellen O’Connell from the University of Notre Dame why Russia opposes NATO’s expansion, O’Connell said that Ukraine’s past is complex.
O’Connell, an international expert in force use and law, stated that Putin did not wish to see Ukraine further separated from Russia.
According to a Kremlin reading of the conversation, Putin stated to Biden that NATO was responsible for increasing tensions at Russia’s borders. He also accused NATO of building military bases in countries adjacent to Russia.
Possibile consequences
Washington and European allies have warned Ukraine since weeks that Russian troops are assembling along its eastern frontier. It is an example of Moscow’s 2014 invasion in Crimea. Moscow was hit with a series sanctions after an international uproar erupted following the Black Sea peninsula’s annexation.
O’Connell stated that Russia will likely suffer more severe consequences if it invades Ukraine.
O’Connell indicated that O’Connell believed the penalties would be worse than those in 2014.
Putin is aware that an invasion would likely attract fierce Ukrainian military resistance. O’Connell explained that the global reaction to this brazen act would be more costly than the invasion in Crimea.
Sullivan minimized fears that Russia would be deterred by the addition of sanctions.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin via virtual chat amid Western fears about Moscow’s plans to attack Ukraine. As Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens along with other officials, during a secure call, the Situation Room at Washington, U.S.A. on December 7, 2021.
The White House via Reuters
“The things which we failed to do in 2014, are the things we will do now,” Sullivan added. He said that the White House had been working closely alongside European allies, State Department experts, and National Security Council specialists on a series of economic and policy countermeasures.
Sullivan did not respond to questions regarding the U.S.’s willingness to impose any specific measures.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg appealed to Moscow to calm tensions last week and reiterated his alliance’s “unwavering commitment” to Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Ukraine is a sovereign independent country. Every sovereign nation is free to decide its own course, and what security arrangements they want to join. It is now up to Ukraine, along with 30 other allies, to determine when Ukraine will join the alliance. Stoltenberg said during a NATO meeting in Riga, Latvia.
″[Russia]Stoltenberg declared that he has no veto power or right to intervene in the said process.”
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