Biden says Russian attack on Ukraine ‘still very much a possibility’ as he accepts Putin’s offer to ‘continue the diplomacy’

US president warns Russia that invading Ukraine would be a ‘self-inflicted wound’

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said the US and its allies would ‘continue the diplomacy’ with Russia but warned a renewed invasion of Ukraine is “still very much a possibility”.

Mr Biden said the United States had not confirmed Russian claims that some military units deployed along the Ukrainian border have completed exercises and returned to their bases, and stressed that US analysts believe the 150,000 troops Moscow has massed along its Western frontier can still mount an attack on short notice.

“We have not yet verified the Russian military units are returning to their home bases. Indeed, our analysts indicate that they remain very much in a threatening position,” he said. “The fact remains right now Russia has more than 150,000 troops and circling Ukraine and Belarus and along Ukraine's border and invasion remains distinctly possible.”

Mr Biden said the continued threat of a Russian attack is why his administration is continuing to urge any Americans in Ukraine to depart the country at once, why the US has moved its embassy from Kiev to Lviv, as well as why his administration has continued sharing intelligence about Russian plans to justify an attack on Ukraine with false flag operations.

“We've been transparent with the American people and with the world about Russia's plans and the seriousness of the situation so that everyone can see for themselves what is happening,” he said before adding that that same transparency has extended to US and Nato deployments made in response to Moscow’s troop movements.

Addressing the Russian people directly, Mr Biden said he wanted to be “equally clear” with them as well.

“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 do not have plans to put them there as well,” he said. “We're not targeting the people of Russia. We do not seek to destabilise Russia ... you are not our enemy.”

Continuing to direct his remarks to the Russian people, Mr Biden said he did not believe Russia wants “a bloody destructive war against Ukraine,” which he called “a country and the people with whom [Russians] share such deep ties of family history and culture”.

Referring to the US-Soviet alliance that brought down Nazism seven decades ago, the president recalled how the American and Russian peoples had “fought and sacrificed side by side to end the worst war in history”.

“World War Two was a war of necessity, but if Russia attacks Ukraine it would be a war of choice — a war without cause or reason,” he said, adding that a Russian attack would bring “human costs” upon Ukraine and “strategic costs” upon Russia that would be equally “immense”.

Any attack on Ukraine by Russia would be “met with overwhelming international condemnation” from a world that “would not forget” Russia’s decision to choose “needless death and destruction”, Mr Biden declared, predicting that a further Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a “self-inflicted wound” to which the US and Nato would “respond decisively”.

“The alliance is as unified and determined as it has ever been. The source of our unbreakable strength continues to be the power resilience and universal appeal of our shared democratic values,” he said, adding that the US and “allies and partners around the world” are prepared to levy “powerful sanctions and export controls” beyond those imposed after Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea, which would “put intense pressure” on Russia’s “largest and most significant financial institutions and key industries”.

“These measures are ready to go soon, and — if Russia moves — will impose long term consequences that will undermine Russia's ability to compete economically and strategically,” Mr Biden said. He added that in the event of a further Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany “will not happen”.

And while Mr Biden said US troops would not be sent to fight in Ukraine, he stressed that America had provided equipment, training, advice and intelligence to help Ukrainians defend themselves.

He also warned that a Russian attack on “any inch of Nato territory” would bring “the full force of American power” to bear in response, and any Russian targeting of Americans in Ukraine would bring a “forceful” US response. He added that the US is “prepared to respond” to any asymmetric Russian attack on the US or Nato allies, including cyberattacks on companies or critical infrastructure.