Vladimir Putin refrained from responding personally to the US President's speech.

In his own way, however, he let people know what he thought of it.

That Joe Biden addressed the Russian people directly by saying that they were not the "enemy" of America was not offensive.

One can probably welcome the fact that the president of one of the most powerful countries in the world is thinking of the Russian people, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said wryly on Wednesday.

“That should probably impress us.

But we would prefer not to hear various threats about what is happening to us if we were to do something we have no intention of doing.”

Majid Sattar

Political correspondent for North America based in Washington.

  • Follow I follow

Biden's appearance at the White House on Tuesday afternoon was a response to two signals from Moscow: After the two presidents' recent phone call over the weekend, the Russian government publicly proposed on Monday to continue down the diplomatic path, Biden said, adding: "I agree ." In addition, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that "some military units had left their positions" near Ukraine.

"That would be good," Biden continued.

But the American side has not verified that yet.

Skepticism prevails

In fact, his experts indicated to him that the Russian soldiers remained in a threatening position.

150,000 soldiers are on the Ukrainian border.

And on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken reiterated that "no significant retreat" had been seen;

the situation remains “very, very worrying”.

Skepticism prevails.

Biden reiterated what he had said from the beginning of the crisis: the United States is prepared no matter what happens.

We are ready to continue diplomacy.

But they are also prepared to react decisively to a Russian attack on Ukraine.

The President again threatened "huge sanctions".

An invasion would prove to be a "self-inflicted wound" for Russia in a war for which there was no reason.

The West is united.

A warning followed, revealing the level of suspicion: The United States would defend every inch of NATO territory.

Article V of the alliance is sacrosanct.

Biden's words made it clear: he does not rule out that Putin's latest turn is a tactical move - possibly a response to the American strategy of exposing Russian scripts for hybrid warfare in order to thwart them.

The White House chose to respond to Moscow's signals with a double message: Follow the words with action - great.

However, if they turn out to be trickery, you won't be caught on the wrong foot.

Willingness to talk and preparations for the “worst case” – Biden himself pointed out that Washington had followed this approach from the start.

White House officials have now made public that as early as October, when intelligence services reported signs of a Russian troop deployment to the National Security Council (NSC), a "Tiger Team" was formed at the NSC, an interagency unit tasked with Read Putin's signals and formulate responses in the event of an invasion.

In order to be prepared, simulation exercises were carried out, one even with cabinet members.

This NPC unit also came up with the unconventional idea of ​​releasing intelligence information as a kind of preemptive strike.

Putin's intentions remain a mystery to the White House.

But for the first two weeks after a possible invasion, you have a strategy paper that includes a series of plays for different scenarios.