Joe Biden warns Vladimir Putin of “severe and rapid repercussions” in the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine – Le Monde

Telephone exchanges are increasing between Westerners and Moscow. On Saturday, February 12, at the end of the afternoon, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, spoke by telephone for a little over an hour. An exchange which promised to be tense, given the growing threat of invasion of Ukraine by Russia as well as the announcement by Russia, a little earlier in the day, of the detection of an American submarine in the North Pacific, not far from the Kuril Islands.

According to the White House, Mr. Biden told Mr. Putin that the United States was open to dialogue about Ukraine but also to “all other scenarios” – namely the attack on Ukraine. If that were the case, Washington would not hesitate to ” [répondre] resolutely and [à imposer] severe and swift repercussions to Russia”.

Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on the phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Mr. Blinken had affirmed that the diplomatic channel remained ” opened “ to avoid a conflict in Ukraine, but that this required a ” de-escalation “ from Moscow, according to the State Department.

Mr. Putin also spoke with Emmanuel Macron. According to the French presidency, Mr Macron told his Russian counterpart that a “sincere dialogue was not compatible with an escalation” military. To which Mr Putin replied that Washington’s statements that Russia was ready to invade Ukraine were “provocative speculation” from the Americans.

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Troop movements

More than a hundred thousand soldiers have been deployed by Russia on the Ukrainian borders. Moscow is also conducting maneuvers in the Black Sea and in Belarus, de facto encircling its pro-Western neighbor.

For their part, the United States ordered, on Saturday, the withdrawal of the 160 American soldiers who were training the Ukrainian forces for the “reposition elsewhere in Europe”, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby announced. This decision, which testifies to a certain feverishness, was taken “out of an abundance of caution, keeping in mind the safety and security of the workforce”even if she “does not constitute a change in [la] determination [des Etats-Unis] to support the Ukrainian forces “, continued the Pentagon.

These US National Guard reservists had been on rotation since 2015 to train the Ukrainian army, alongside soldiers from other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries, including Canadians and Germany.

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Kiev calls not to panic

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, declared on Saturday that he was “extremely important to keep calm” and that it was necessary “avoid actions that destabilize the situation and sow panic”. “The Ukrainian armed forces are monitoring the situation and are ready to respond to any attack on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. »

Kyiv assured “to be in contact twenty-four hours a day with all key partners” in order to quickly receive security information. “We continue to work to lower the tension and mobilize the support of our international partners in order to keep Russia within the diplomatic framework”assured the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

US warnings of imminent Russian attack on Ukraine “cause panic and do not help” denounced, on Saturday, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine agency. “Currently, the best friend of our enemies is panic in our country”he said during a trip to the provinces.

On Saturday, in the streets of Kiev, several thousand people demonstrated their unity in the face of fears of a Russian invasion, chanting “Glory to the nation, death to the enemies” and “The Ukrainians will resist”.

Germany recommends its nationals to leave

As the US Embassy in Ukraine ordered the withdrawal of its non-essential staff on Saturday, Luxembourg advised its nationals to leave the country.

The Grand Duchy joins the long list of countries that have made similar announcements in recent days, including the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Canada.

The European Union has recommended, on Friday, to the non-essential staff of its representation in Kiev to leave Ukraine to telework from abroad. On Saturday, the airline KLM announced the suspension until further notice of flights to Ukraine following the “code red” announced earlier to Dutch travellers, meaning that it is too dangerous to travel to this country.

On his side, Russia added to the concern by announcing to reduce its diplomatic personnel present in Ukraine, arguing possible ” Provocation “ western countries or from Kiev.

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