{"id":35022,"date":"2022-01-21T02:05:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T02:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/01\/21\/biden-issues-new-warning-to-russia-over-invading-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:06:23","slug":"biden-issues-new-warning-to-russia-over-invading-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2022\/01\/21\/biden-issues-new-warning-to-russia-over-invading-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden issues new warning to Russia over invading Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GENEVA \u2014 U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday that any Russian troop movements across Ukraine\u2019s border would constitute an invasion and that Moscow would \u201cpay a heavy price\u201d for such an action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the latest White House effort to clear up comments Biden made a day earlier when he suggested that a \u201cminor incursion\u201d by Russia into Ukrainian territory could result in a more measured response by the United States and allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facing an avalanche of criticism from Republican lawmakers and Ukrainian officials that Biden\u2019s comments had invited limited military action by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden sought to clarify his remarks<\/a> at the start of a meeting at the White House focused on domestic policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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President Joe Biden meets with members of the Infrastructure Implementation Task Force to discuss the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Andrew Harnik\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been absolutely clear with President Putin,\u201d Biden said. \u201cHe has no misunderstanding: Any, any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion,\u201d said Biden, adding that an invasion would be met with a \u201csevere and coordinated economic response.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His comments came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to meet Friday in Geneva with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a high-stakes bid to ease tensions that appears likely to fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden said the U.S. was preparing for Russia to take action that fell outside the parameters of conventional warfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRussia has a long history of using measures other than overt military action to carry out aggression \u2014 paramilitary tactics, so-called gray zone attacks and actions by Russian soldiers not wearing Russian uniforms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t