Joe Biden is increasing pressure on Moscow and consulting with Europe

Published: 24/01/2022 – 23:34

By announcing the potential for strengthening thousands of U.S. veterans NATO troops, Joe Biden significantly increased the pressure on Moscow on Monday, January 24th.

The United States has 8,500 troops on high alert. That means they will be ready in five days to strengthen the military coalition’s 40,000-strong Rapid Response Force, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday. “No decision has been made at this time on whether to deploy troops outside the United States,” he added. But “it is very clear,” he added, “the Russians have no intention of slowing down the expansion at present.”

The US president is trying to sway the balance of power established by his Russian envoy, Vladimir Putin, by concentrating troops and equipment on the border with Ukraine.

“Total Consensus”

Joe Biden held a less than an hour and a half video conference with several European leaders on Monday, and this growing pressure from Americans came as a shock.

He praised the “total consensus” between Americans and Europeans shortly after the meeting, which was attended by Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholes, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Polish President Andrzej Duda and the British Prime Minister. Minister Boris Johnson, Council President Charles Michael and European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen.

According to a White House statement, the leaders “underlined their general will for diplomatic resolution” but also spoke of “preparations for imposing massive repercussions and severe economic costs on Russia in the event of an invasion.” Strengthen security in the eastern part of NATO “.

Participants were of the opinion that “it is Russia’s responsibility to make visible initiatives for increase”, and the German Chancellor, for his part, promised that Moscow would face “very serious consequences” during the invasion.

In unison, Jens Stoltenberg spoke to him in a tweet about the “severe costs” of the “new occupation” event against Ukraine.

“Transition”

Europeans were previously wary of America’s increasingly rhetorical rhetoric and decisions, for example, following the initiative of London and Canberra to decide to remove the families of ambassadors stationed in Kiev.

France, which currently assumes leadership of NATO’s rapid reaction force, has called for “ambiguity, not creating further volatility.” Joseph Borel, the head of European diplomacy, called on him not to “play.” Ukrainian officials have described Washington’s decision as “premature” and “excessive” in their diplomatic representation.

Moscow condemned the “mania” and accused the United States and NATO of “escalating tensions through announcements and decisive action.”

“The Path of Expansion”

With this pressure increasing, Westerners continue to defy everything to explore the diplomatic path. According to a European source, a new meeting is planned between Foreign Secretary Anthony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

The United States has promised to respond in writing to Russia’s demands. In an interview with Joe Biden, the French president emphasized the need to “emphasize the importance of the EU playing its full role,” Élysée said in a statement.

In this speech, France, unlike the Americans, does not explicitly mention NATO and emphasizes the need to continue diplomatic efforts. In an interview “in the coming days”, Emmanuel Macron wants to propose to his Russian envoy Vladimir Putin a “path to a slowdown”.

With AFP