Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the United States is ready to engage in diplomacy with Russia, but also to respond decisively if Moscow invades Ukraine, which he believes is still a possibility.
"The United States is prepared no matter what happens, to engage in diplomacy with Russia and our allies and partners to improve security and stability in Europe ... and we are ready to respond decisively to a Russian attack on Ukraine. It is still very much a possibility," Biden said.
"This weekend, I spoke again with President Putin to make clear that we are ready to keep pursuing high-level diplomacy," Biden added. "President Putin and I agreed that our teams should continue to engage toward this end along with our allies and partners."
"To be clear, if Russia decides to invade, that would also have consequences here at home, but the American people understand that defending democracy and liberty is never without costs," Biden said.
15 February 2022, 14:22 GMT
"We're proposing new arms control measures, new transparency measures, new strategic stability measures. These measures apply to all parties, NATO and Russia alike," Biden said. "We are willing to make practical result-oriented steps that can advance our common security. We will not sacrifice basic principles though."
"The United States and NATO are not a threat to Russia. Ukraine is not threatening Russia, neither the US nor NATO have missiles in Ukraine. We do not have plans to put them there as well. We are not targeting the people of Russia. We do not seek to destabilize Russia. To the citizens of Russia: ‘You are not our enemy’," Biden added.
Biden Believes in Leader-to-Leader Diplomacy, White House Says
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said Tuesday that there is no information on a follow-up meeting between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin to preview after their security talks during this past weekend.
"In terms of engagement with President Putin... he [Biden] believes in the power of leader-to-leader diplomacy, but I don't have a prediction of a next engagement at this point in time," Psaki said.
Western hysteria over an alleged preparation for an "invasion" of Ukraine has been going on for the past few months, which the US and its NATO allies have justified by what they call Russia's "military build-up" near the Ukrainian border. Moscow has repeatedly stated it is not threatening Ukraine, or any other state, while it has the right to move troops within its national territory.
At the same time, Russia has expressed strong concerns over NATO's military activity near its own borders, which Moscow deems a threat to national security. Last week, a Virginia-class US submarine was spotted in the Russian territorial waters, the country's defense ministry said. The submarine first ignored the demand to come up to the surface, but then left the Russian waters.