Category Archives: Russia

Biden warns Russia of ‘enormous consequences’ if it invades Ukraine – live

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Staff turnover in the Biden administration is nowhere near what it was under Donald Trump, when senior aides came and went as through a revolving door in a hurricane.

Nonetheless, the press always likes a bit of speculation about who might be in and who might be out, and here comes the Washington Post with an exhaustive examination of how Ron Klain, Joe Biden’s chief of staff, has not had the smoothest first year in the job.

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US finalizing plans to divert gas to Europe if Russia cuts off supply

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Officials working with global suppliers to avoid European gas crisis if flow from Russia is cut as Biden says he would consider personal sanctions against Putin

The US has helped prepare for the diversion of natural gas supplies from around the world to Europe in the event that the flow from Russia is cut, in an effort to blunt Vladimir Putin’s most powerful economic weapon.

As fears of an invasion of Ukraine have grown, US officials said on Tuesday that they had been negotiating with global suppliers, and they were now confident that Europe would not suffer from a sudden loss of energy for heating in the middle of winter.

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US, UK and Europe totally united in the face of Russia threat to Ukraine, Biden says

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Virtual meeting between western powers comes as the US put 8,500 troops on alert and as France prepares to host a meeting of Russian and Ukrainian officials

US president Joe Biden has insisted there was “total” unity among western powers after crisis talks with European leaders on how to deter Russia from an attack against Ukraine.

“I had a very, very, very good meeting – total unanimity with all the European leaders,” Biden told reporters shortly after finishing a one hour and 20 minute video conference on Monday with allied leaders from Europe and Nato.

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Ukraine: US puts 8,500 troops on alert to deploy to bolster Nato – video

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The US military has put up to 8,500 troops on alert to be ready to deploy to Europe, potentially at very short notice, should the Nato alliance activate a rapid response force. It's the latest sign of US resolve in the face of a Russian military buildup near Ukraine. The Pentagon spokesman John Kirby stressed that no decision had been made on whether to deploy the troops, and that any such deployment would separate from intra-European movements of US troops to Nato's eastern flank, to reassure nervous allies. The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, told US citizens in Ukraine that ‘now is the time to leave’

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Rising costs of Ukraine gamble could force Russia’s hand

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Analysis: Putin can still turn back but it looks less likely as economic and political consequences mount

Russia’s aggressive buildup near Ukraine energised Nato into sending more forces to eastern Europe on Monday and led to a plunge on Russian markets, raising the stakes on the Kremlin’s bet that it could cajole, extort or force Ukraine into submission.

For Moscow it has become more difficult to pull back from its aggressive stance after US and Nato announcements that more troops would be deployed to the military alliance’s eastern flank. A unilateral drawdown now would leave the Kremlin a clear loser in the standoff, having provoked a strengthening of the very Nato presence that it had sought to banish from eastern Europe.

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Nato reinforces eastern borders as Ukraine tensions mount

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Stoltenberg says ‘deteriorating security situation’ has led Nato allies to ready frigates, fighter jets and troops for ‘collective defence’

Nato is reinforcing its eastern borders with land, sea and air forces, the military alliance’s secretary general has said, as a Russian invasion of Ukraine appeared increasingly likely.

Jens Stoltenberg said the “deteriorating security situation” had led Nato allies to ready frigates, fighter jets and troops for their “collective defence”.

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Ukraine taking UK claim of Russian invasion plot seriously, says adviser

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Warning greeted with shock and some scepticism in Kyiv but aide says it fits ‘logical chain’

Ukraine is reacting “seriously” to UK Foreign Office allegations that Moscow has plans to invade the country and install a puppet government, a senior government adviser has said, adding that Kyiv is resisting Russian efforts to destabilise its government and economy.

The extraordinary Foreign Office claims that Moscow may topple the government and install Yevhen Murayev, a former MP who controls a pro-Russia television station, were met with shock and some scepticism in Ukrainian political and media circles on Sunday.

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German navy chief resigns over comments on Putin and Ukraine – video

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The chief of Germany’s navy has resigned after arguing during a livestreamed event that Vladimir Putin 'deserves respect' and Kyiv will not win back annexed Crimea. Ukraine’s ambassador in Berlin said Kay-Achim Schönbach's comments 'massively' called into question Germany’s trustworthiness

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Confusion over UK claim that Putin plans coup in Ukraine

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Foreign Office claim of plot to install pro-Moscow government in Kyiv comes with scant detail

The Foreign Office has said that it had exposed evidence of a plot to install a pro-Moscow government in Ukraine, and Boris Johnson promised to “ramp up pressure on Russia”, as his own domestic political troubles deepened.

Saturday’s rare reference to intelligence-gathering went into almost no detail about a conspiracy that, if accurate, could mean a serious escalation in the threat to Ukraine. Politicians there were sceptical that the government could be replaced without a full-blown invasion of the capital, Kyiv.

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US embassy in Ukraine ‘requests staff evacuation’ amid war fears

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Report comes as arms deliveries promised by Joe Biden arrive in response to threat of Russian invasion

The US embassy in Ukraine has requested the evacuation of all non-essential staff amid increasing fears of an imminent Russian invasion and the arrival overnight of arms deliveries promised by President Joe Biden, according to a CNN report.

US evacuations are likely to start “as early as next week”, the US cable news network said, citing a source close to the Ukrainian government. It marks the embassy’s shift in focus towards “helping Ukraine bolster its defences in the face of growing Russian aggression”.

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‘We are ready for whatever comes’: on the Ukraine frontline

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In Chonhar a blue and yellow flag marks the de facto border as Russian forces amass across a shimmering expanse of water

Peering through binoculars, Mykola Chekman pointed to the bridge connecting Ukraine to Russian-controlled Crimea. “It’s not the first time the peninsula has been occupied,” he observed. He added: “Crimea has seen a lot of war.”

Chekman – a Ukrainian army photographer – was standing on the castellated tower of what was once a tourist cafe. It is now a base for Ukrainian forces, facing off against their invisible Russian counterparts across a shimmering expanse of water and duck-filled lagoons.

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Ukraine: Blinken says talks with Russia’s Lavrov were ‘frank and substantive’ – video

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The US secretary of state described talks in Geneva with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, intended to reduce tensions that have risen since Russia massed troops near Ukraine's border, as ‘frank and substantive’. But Antony Blinken repeated the US and Nato’s position that there could still be no compromise on the central issue of the right of Ukraine and other countries to join Nato in the future

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Ukraine: US offers Putin summit with Biden in effort to stop slide to war

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Move comes amid ‘frank and substantive’ talks in Geneva and announcement by Russia of new military exercises

The US has offered to hold a summit between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin as a last-ditch effort to stop the slide to a new war in Europe, as Russia continued to build up its forces along the Ukraine border and announced new naval exercises in the Black Sea.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said Washington and its allies were also ready to respond in writing next week to Russian demands on the future of Nato and European security, which Moscow has said must be addressed to avoid it taking “military measures”. But, speaking in Geneva where he held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Blinken repeated the US and Nato position there could still be no compromise on the central issue of the right of Ukraine and other countries to join Nato in the future.

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Biden warns Russia will ‘pay a heavy price’ if Putin launches Ukraine invasion – as it happened

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Here’s where the day stands so far:

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Biden warns Russia will ‘pay heavy price’ if it invades Ukraine – video

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Joe Biden sought to clarify US policy on a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine after his remarks about how the Nato alliance might respond to a 'minor incursion' triggered alarm in Kyiv. Biden told reporters at the White House: 'If any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion. Let there be no doubt if Putin makes this choice, Russia will pay a heavy price'

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US accuses Russia of conspiring to take over Ukraine government

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Treasury imposes sanctions on four current and former Ukraine government officials it says involved in alleged conspiracy

The US has alleged that Russian intelligence is recruiting current and former Ukrainian government officials to take over the government in Kyiv and cooperate with a Russian occupying force.

The US Treasury on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Ukrainian members of parliament and two former officials it said were involved in the alleged conspiracy, which involved discrediting the current government of the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

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Biden lays bare Nato divide over Russian aggression against Ukraine

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Analysis: Greatest tension is between US and Germany over arms sale and energy dependency

Joe Biden confirmed at his press conference on Wednesday what has been apparent for weeks – Nato remains divided over how to respond to Russian aggression against Ukraine.

His admission of a split was overshadowed by his passing remark that a minor incursion would be treated differently to a full-scale invasion. The White House afterwards clarified that a minor incursion meant cyber-attacks, as opposed to a movement of Russian troops into Ukraine sovereign territory.

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Joe Biden thinks Russia will attack Ukraine – but will face a ‘stiff price’

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US president alarms government in Kyiv by saying Nato was divided on how to respond to ‘minor incursion’

Joe Biden has said he thinks Russia will attack Ukraine, warning that Moscow would face a “stiff price”, but he admitted Nato was divided on how to respond if there is only a “minor incursion”.

The White House was forced to issue a hasty clarification to that last point, saying that any movement of Russian forces over the border would be treated as invasion.

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Macron says EU must start own dialogue with Russia over Ukraine

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France’s president hopes to restart four-ways talks between Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine

The EU must open its own talks with Russia rather than rely on Washington, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has said as he warned of the prospect of the “most tragic thing of all – war”.

In a wide-ranging speech in Strasbourg, Macron said it was not sufficient for the US to negotiate with the Kremlin over its threats to peace but that Europe needed to have its voice heard.

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Fear and defiance on Ukraine’s frontline: ‘We don’t like dictators here’

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With ageing Soviet-era rockets and a depleted, elderly fleet, Ukraine’s military hold their breath for Moscow’s next move

Yiry Ulshin surveyed a scene of ruin. Before him were the remains of what was once a school. Desks were covered in debris. A photo of the class of 2011 lay in the wreckage. There were abandoned crayons and year 3 books in Ukrainian and Russian. Beyond a bullet-scarred wall was a view of pine trees and sea.

“My heart is hurting. Why did Russia do this?” Ulshin, a Ukrainian army commander, asked.

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