Diplomatic efforts to defuse the Ukraine crisis failed to ease tensions Saturday, with the White House stressing that Russia would face “a huge and immediate cost” if it invaded its neighbour.
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 telephone conversation that “if Russia launches a further invasion of Ukraine, the United States, along with our 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 … we are prepared at the same time for other scenarios.”
A US official told reporters that the call was “professional and rich”, but did not lead to “a fundamental change in the dynamic that we have been witnessing 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.
Later, the US military issued a statement saying, “The Russian allegations about our operations in their territorial waters are not true.”
A spokesman for the US Indo-Pacific Command, Captain Kyle Raines, said he would not comment on the exact locations of US submarines.
But Raines added, “We fly, sail and operate safely in international waters.”
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.
The Elysee explained that Macron and Putin “expressed their desire to continue the dialogue”, but, like Washington, no progress was recorded.
possible provocations
Russia has withdrawn a number of its diplomatic staff from Ukraine.
The Foreign Ministry in Moscow said its decision was due to fears of “possible provocations by the Kiev regime”.
The United States, a number of European countries and Israel have also asked their citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible, citing the growing threat of a Russian invasion.
On Saturday, Canada announced the temporary closure of its embassy in Kiev and the transfer of its activities to an office in Lviv, in the west of the country, “due to the deterioration of the situation as a result of the deployment of Russian forces on the border.”
Australia also gave directions to evacuate all its remaining embassy staff in Kiev, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Sunday.
Also, the Dutch airline “KLM” announced that it will suspend commercial flights to Ukraine until further notice.
Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands joined European countries that advised their nationals to leave Ukraine, while the US embassy asked “most” of its employees in Kiev to leave.
The possibility of Western citizens rushing to leave Ukraine prompted the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to ask citizens to “remain calm”.
“Now, the biggest enemy of the people is panic,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during an inspection visit to troops deployed near the Russian-annexed peninsula.
Thousands of Ukrainians demonstrated in Kiev to show unity in light of growing fears in the country.
At what time
On Friday, Washington issued its harshest warning, saying Russia had amassed enough forces to launch a dangerous attack.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned, “We continue to see signs of a Russian escalation, including the arrival of new forces at the Ukrainian border.”
He added that this invasion could “occur at any time”, even before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
And US military expectations indicated the possibility of the Kremlin waiting until after the end of the Beijing Games on February 20, before launching an attack, in consideration of the Chinese ally.
Ukrainian leaders have sought to play down the potential for all-out war, as it would damage the faltering economy and public morale.
However, the mood across the country remains tense.
The Kiev mayor’s office announced that it had prepared an emergency evacuation plan for the capital’s three million residents, as a precaution.
Sullivan did not announce Friday whether the United States concluded that Putin had made the decision to launch an attack.
Some US and German media quoted intelligence sources and officials as saying that a war could erupt at some point after Putin’s talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz ended on Tuesday.
The chancellor will travel to Kiev on Monday and then visit Putin as part of European efforts to keep lines of communication open with Moscow.
Russia is demanding binding security guarantees from the West, including a pledge to withdraw NATO forces from Eastern Europe and not to expand with Ukraine.
Washington categorically rejected these demands and in return offered to discuss a new European disarmament agreement with Moscow.
Russia considered the American proposal insufficient.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States was also waiting for a response to “some ideas” put forward by Washington.
Sullivan emphasized that NATO was “more coherent, effective and dynamic than at any time in recent memory.”