Joe Biden has agreed to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming days, so long as Russia does not proceed with a Ukraine invasion.
“As the President has repeatedly made clear, we are committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins,” Jen Psaki said in a statement Sunday.
As reported by The Hill, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Biden “accepted in principle a meeting with President Putin following that engagement, again if an invasion hasn’t happened.”
“We are always ready for diplomacy. We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war. And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon,” Psaki said.
As previously reported by Human Events News, the U.S. envoy to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on Friday detailed reports that up to a whopping 190,000 Russian troops are now stationed along the Ukrainian border.
Ambassador Michael Carpenter said the OSCE has found evidence that between 169,000 and 190,000 Russian troops are now at the border, up from the around 100,000 thought to be in the region at the end of last month.
