US President Joe Biden has said that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is "still a possibility", and that reports that some Russian forces have moved away from the Ukrainian border have yet to be verified by the United States.
"We are ready to respond decisively to any Russian attack on Ukraine, which is a very high possibility," Biden added, warning that Western sanctions against Russia were "ready" if it launched an attack on Ukraine.
The US president urged Russia to retreat from the brink of war, noting that America "does not seek direct confrontation with Russia," but threatened to "respond strongly" if Russia attacked Americans in Ukraine, and pledged to protect every inch of NATO member states ( NATO).
Biden revealed that the United States and its NATO partners are "prepared for everything that will happen", and that Russia will "pay a heavy economic price if it invades Ukraine."
He explained that the "severe" sanctions awaiting Russia, in particular, will put "pressure on its largest and most important financial institutions and on major industries," reiterating that the "Nord Stream 2" line to transport gas between Russia and Germany will never be operated in the event of a Russian attack.
persistent fears
For its part, the US State Department said that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Tuesday that the United States had continuing concerns about Russia's ability to invade Ukraine, and needed vision for a "verifiable and credible de-escalation."
The two ministers spoke by phone after Russia said some of its forces had returned to their bases after exercises near Ukraine, and after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to continue dialogue.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that Blinken told Lavrov that Washington was committed to seeking a diplomatic solution to the "crisis created by Moscow" and that he was looking forward to Russia's written response to US and NATO proposals on European security.
"Secretary Blinken reiterated our continuing concerns that Russia has the ability to invade Ukraine at any moment, and stressed the need to see a serious, verifiable and credible de-escalation."
Aggressive speech rejected
In turn, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Lavrov stressed the need to continue working together and called for a practical dialogue on security, but told Blinken that "the aggressive rhetoric exaggerated by Washington is unacceptable."
Lavrov condemned the "hostile rhetoric adopted by Washington," and called for "a pragmatic dialogue on all the issues raised by Russia," according to the Russian statement.
Russia announced on Tuesday that some of its forces had returned to their bases after exercises near Ukraine, and mocked repeated Western warnings of an "imminent invasion", but did not say how many units were being withdrawn and to what extent.
"Do we want war or not? Certainly not, that is why we presented our proposals for a negotiating process," Putin said - at a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, after lengthy talks between them in Moscow.
The Russian president added that he discussed with the German chancellor security guarantees, and confirmed Moscow's readiness to continue exporting gas to Europe via Ukraine.
Putin said Russia was ready to continue talks with the West on security issues, but was not satisfied with vague talk that Ukraine was not ready to join NATO soon.
good signals
Tensions remain high between Russia on the one hand and the West and Ukraine on the other, but the German chancellor said after his meeting with Putin on Tuesday in the Kremlin that the withdrawal of Russian forces was a "good sign".
For its part, Ukraine said that the reported withdrawal "must be verified to be credible", while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that "the intelligence we have seen today (Tuesday) is still not encouraging."
As for NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, he welcomed the "indications from Russia" in the past two days, saying that it "may seek a diplomatic solution", but urged Moscow to "demonstrate its willingness to act."
In an interview with reporters, he added, "There are signs from Moscow that diplomacy must continue. This gives reasons for cautious optimism. But so far we have not seen any sign of Russia de-escalation on the ground."
He said that Russia often leaves military equipment behind after exercises, which creates the possibility of re-mobilizing forces.
Russia has repeatedly denied accusations of plotting to invade Ukraine, and says it has the right to train forces on its territory as it sees fit.
Moscow is pressing for a set of security guarantees from the West, including that Ukraine will not join NATO in the future, because it considers this an expansion of the alliance on its borders and poses a security threat to it.
Warning against recognizing separatists
In a related context, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned Tuesday evening that Russia's recognition of the separatist regions in eastern Ukraine would be "unarmed aggression", after a call from Russian lawmakers in this regard.
"It would be an impossible situation, a form of unarmed aggression and an unarmed dismantling of Ukraine's territorial integrity. It would be a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty," Le Drian told the French parliament's foreign affairs committee.
On Tuesday, Russian lawmakers called on President Vladimir Putin to recognize the independence of the Ukrainian separatist regions backed by Moscow, which have been witnessing a confrontation with the Ukrainian army in the east of this country for eight years.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that there is currently no "official decision" in this regard, but the MPs' request "reflects the opinion of the Russian population."
The recognition of those two regions will put an end to the peace process in eastern Ukraine and the Minsk agreements signed thanks to French and German mediation, and stipulate the return of these areas in the long term to the sovereignty of Kiev.
The Elysee said on Tuesday that French President Emmanuel Macron had asked his Russian counterpart not to recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions and not to declare them republics.
cyber attack
On the other hand, the Ukrainian authorities announced on Tuesday evening that several official military sites in the country and two government banks were targeted with a cyber attack.
The State Service for Special Communications said it had detected a "massive cyber-attack targeting several Ukrainian websites since the afternoon".
The attack affected the sites of the State Savings Bank "Ushad Bank" and "Privat 24", two of the largest financial institutions of the state, and the two banking institutions resumed their work in the evening.
A message also appeared on the Ministry of Defense website stating that it is down and is "subject to technical maintenance."