Biden talks about Russia's "small invasion" to provoke Kiev's anger, and senior US officials have "stopped losses"

Source: Global Times

Biden's talk about Russia's "small invasion" provoked Kiev's anger, and the US president, vice president, and secretary of state "stopped loss"

[Global Times Comprehensive Report] US President Joe Biden issued an "invitation letter" to Russia to attack Ukraine? At a press conference on his inauguration two days ago, Biden divided Russia's "invasion" of Ukraine into large and small scales, saying that if it were the latter, the United States and its NATO allies would be at loggerheads over how to deal with it. Is Washington hinting that Moscow will not pay a heavy price for limited military action? The Ukrainian government is very annoyed by Biden's "voice off the string", and the country's president Zelenskiy issued an article on the 20th to "remind some big countries that there is no small aggression and no small country." What embarrassed Washington was that Biden's offense against Ukraine coincided with Secretary of State Blinken's "whirlwind diplomacy", who had visited Kiev and Berlin intensively for several days, and met with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov in Geneva on the 21st to discuss the risk of the so-called Russian "invasion" of Ukraine. The effect of Blinken's "diplomatic efforts" against his allies is probably diminished. On the 21st, the talks between the Russian and US foreign ministers lasted about 1.5 hours, and the US side promised to make a written response to the security initiative put forward by the Russian side next week. "I can't say now whether we're on the right path," Lavrov said, "and we'll know when we get a reply." ”

Source: US President Joe Biden. Photo by Chen Mengtong, a reporter of China News Service

"You've been cheated, isn't it obvious?"

At the inauguration anniversary press conference held on the 19th, Biden was asked about Ukraine and claimed that Russia's actions determine the price it subsequently pays, if it is a "small-scale invasion", then the United States and other NATO allies will "argue" over what to do and what not to do, and if it invades Ukraine, it will be a disaster.

"Russia Today" TV station said on the 21st that Zelenskiy "angrily fought back" on the 20th, "There is no small aggression, there is no small country, just like when you lose a loved one, there are no small casualties and slight grief." The report said the tweet, which was not named, was "sarcastic" to Biden.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kureba said on the 20th that there is no difference between a "small-scale invasion" and a "full-scale invasion", "there is no 'semi-invasion', either invasion or no". Ukraine would not accept any explanation to them that there was no need to act to contain Russia, he said. A Ukrainian official told CNN that this amounted to "giving Putin the green light to enter Ukraine at will."

The matter sparked a heated discussion on social media. "Seriously Ukrainian, you've been deceived, isn't it obvious?" Some foreign netizens commented on this. Another netizen said: "The United States provoked a war between Ukraine and Russia, and then threw Ukraine aside." The United States does not care about Ukraine and its citizens, it only wants to disrupt the Russian economy. Russia's TASS news agency quoted Russian expert Bistritzky as saying on the 21st that Biden's vague statement actually explains the extent to which the United States may be involved in the Ukraine issue: economic sanctions may be very severe, but it will not participate in the war.

Biden's political opponents took the opportunity to bash his "weakness" on Russia and Ukraine. Fox News anchor And former US President Trump's close ally Sean Hannity mocked on the 20th: "You are witnessing a significant decline in (Biden's) cognitive ability, and the saddest thing is that the opponents of the United States are also witnessing." ”

Presidents, vice presidents, and secretaries of state have all come out to "stop losses"

After Biden "gaffed" at the press conference, White House press secretary Psaki quickly issued a statement saying that Biden had made it clear to Russian President Putin that any Russian military force crossing the border was an "invasion" and that the United States and its allies "would make a prompt, severe, and consistent response." She explained that Biden's "small-scale invasion" rhetoric compared Russia's cyberattacks or paramilitary attacks to the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine.

On the morning of the 20th local time, Biden himself also tried to clarify that he expressed the same meaning as Psaki's statement, and said that he had "absolutely clearly" conveyed his position to Putin - once a Russian military unit "crosses the border", then the country will pay a heavy price. Australia's "Sydney Morning Herald" said that in addition to Biden and Psaki, US Vice President Harris and Secretary of State Blinken also made similar remarks on the 20th, "trying to control the damage."

No matter how the White House explains it, in the eyes of foreign media such as CNN and the BBC, this is a "frank" statement by Biden, reflecting the difficulties that Washington faces in terms of what deterrent and substantive consequences it can bring to Moscow. According to the "New York Times" reported on the 20th, some European diplomats said that Biden was just stating a fact that the exact nature of Putin's actions will determine the extent to which NATO members can "achieve complete unity", but at the same time, Ukraine and other European countries feel uneasy, because some analysts said that the differences between the United States and Europe are Russia's goal.

To the embarrassment of the United States, when Biden annoyed Ukraine and highlighted the differences between the United States and Europe on how to deal with Russia's "invasion" of Ukraine, Blinken visited Kiev and Berlin in an attempt to show solidarity between the United States and European allies. "Biden's words weakened Blinken's efforts on this trip," the BBC commented.

Russian Foreign Minister: I hope that there will be less emotion in the future dialogue

The Russian-US foreign ministers' talks began at 18:00 Beijing time on the 21st, which Agence France-Presse described as a "hastily arranged" meeting.

According to the Russian News Agency, Lavrov told Blinken on the 21st that the latter recently mentioned that it does not expect a breakthrough in this talk, and the Russian side is the same. At a joint press conference held after the meeting, Lavrov said that the United States repeated the so-called "freedom of alliance" view when discussing the issue of NATO expansion. He said the U.S. side promised to respond in writing to Russia's security initiative next week. After that, he and Blinken will likely hold another meeting.

Both Lavrov and Blinken used "frankness" to describe the talks on the 21st, which the latter said, "This is a frank exchange of their respective concerns and ideas." Lavrov said, "I hope that the dialogue between the two countries will be less emotional in the future, but the United States cannot guarantee this."

Unsurprisingly, the Geneva talks on the 21st highlighted the differences that have always existed between Russia and the United States. Blinken said on the same day that if Russia wants to convince the world that it has no intention of "invading" Ukraine, then easing tensions and withdrawing troops near the Russian-Ukrainian border is a "good start." But Lavrov "reminded" those who are analyzing the Kremlin's position that Russia "has never" threatened the Ukrainian people. AFP quoted him as saying Moscow was not worried about "imaginary threats, but hard facts", including the supply of weapons to Ukraine by Western countries and the dispatch of military instructors. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova gave an example on the 20th that in recent days, the United Kingdom has used at least 6 military transport aircraft to transport weapons to Ukraine, Canada has sent 200 special forces to protect its embassy, and the United States has provided $2.5 billion in aid to Ukraine from 2014 to 2021, which "confirms Russia's suspicions about western provocative activities in Ukraine."

Before the talks began on the 21st, the United States was still manipulating the public opinion war against Russia, rendering Russia preparing for "invasion." The US government announced on the 20th that sanctions were imposed on two current ukrainian parliamentarians and two former government officials, saying that they were related to the false news propaganda action of the Russian intelligence department and were trying to create a pretext for Russia to "invade" Ukraine.

Zakharova said on the 20th that Western countries spreading the so-called Russian preparations to "invade" Ukraine, which is an excuse for their own large-scale provocative measures, "these provocations will bring the most unfortunate consequences to regional and global security."