Biden warns Putin against invading Ukraine
Diplomatic efforts to defuse the Ukraine crisis have failed to ease tensions, with the White House asserting that Russia would face "a huge and immediate cost" if it invaded Ukraine.
For its part, the Kremlin condemned the statements of Western countries about an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, considering them as "provocative speculations" that could lead to a conflict in the former Soviet country, according to a statement on the phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Tension began weeks ago after Russia amassed more than 100,000 soldiers on its western neighbor's borders, and worsened with the Kremlin's largest Russian military maneuvers in years in the Black Sea.
According to the White House, US President Joe Biden told his Russian counterpart during a phone conversation that "if Russia launches a further invasion of Ukraine, the United States, along with its allies and partners, will respond decisively and impose a heavy and immediate cost on Russia."
Biden also stressed that "while the United States remains prepared to resort to diplomacy ... it is prepared at the same time for other scenarios."
A US official told reporters that the call was "professional and rich", but it did not lead to "a fundamental change in the dynamic that we have seen for several weeks."
The Russian Defense Ministry increased the tension by announcing that it had chased a US submarine that it claimed had crossed into its territorial waters near the Kuril Islands in the North Pacific.
The ministry revealed that it had summoned the US military attache in Moscow over the incident, while the US Department of Defense only said that it was aware of the reports about it.
Putin began his activity in the afternoon with a conversation with the French president, which lasted for 100 minutes, according to the Elysee.
The Elysee said Macron had warned his Russian counterpart that "honest dialogue is incompatible with a military escalation" on the Ukrainian border.
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