{"id":45626,"date":"2021-12-03T19:55:25","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T19:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/12\/03\/biden-warns-russias-vladimir-putin-against-ukraine-invasion\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T20:49:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T20:49:34","slug":"biden-warns-russias-vladimir-putin-against-ukraine-invasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2021\/12\/03\/biden-warns-russias-vladimir-putin-against-ukraine-invasion\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden warns Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin against Ukraine invasion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Joe Biden on Friday pledged to make it \u201cvery, very difficult\u201d for Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin to take military action in Ukraine and said new initiatives coming from his administration are intended to deter Russian aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president offered the measured warning to Putin in response to growing concern about a Russian buildup <\/a>of troops on the Ukrainian border and increasingly bellicose rhetoric from the Kremlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I am doing is putting together what I believe to be will be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do,\u201d Biden told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Ukraine military’s assessment of a how a potential attack by Russia would play out. (Courtesy of Ukraine military).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are signs that the White House and Kremlin are close to arranging a conversation next week between Biden and Putin. Putin\u2019s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters Friday that arrangements have been made for a Putin-Biden call in the coming days, adding that the date will be announced after Moscow and Washington finalize details. The Russians say a date has been agreed upon, but declined to say when.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have also tentatively agreed to have a call next week, according to a person close to the Ukrainian president who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said administration officials have \u201cengaged in the possibility\u201d of a Biden-Putin call. White House officials did not respond to a request for comment on the expected Zelenskyy call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt certainly would be an opportunity to discuss our serious concerns about the bellicose rhetoric, about the military buildup that we\u2019re seeing on the border of Ukraine,\u201d Psaki said of a potential Biden-Putin call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden did not detail what actions he was weighing. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who met Thursday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Sweden, said the U.S. has threatened new sanctions. He did not detail the potential sanctions but suggested the effort would not be effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the new \u2018sanctions from hell\u2019 come, we will respond,\u201d Lavrov said. \u201cWe can\u2019t fail to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t