Biden's plea to Putin: Step back from war

WASHINGTON • US President Joe Biden made an impassioned appeal to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to step back from war with Ukraine, speaking starkly of the "needless death and destruction" Moscow could cause and international outrage Mr Putin would face.

In a nationally televised speech on Tuesday, Mr Biden said the US estimates that 150,000 Russian troops now encircle Ukraine, adding that while reports that some forces had withdrawn were welcome, they were unverified and an invasion remained very much a possibility.

Much of Mr Biden's remarks were aimed squarely at Mr Putin, who has demanded that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) not accept Ukraine as a member and stop any further eastward expansion.

"The United States and Nato are not a threat to Russia. Ukraine is not threatening Russia. Neither the US nor Nato has missiles in Ukraine," said Mr Biden.

"We do not, do not have plans to put them there as well. We are not targeting the people of Russia. We do not seek to destabilise Russia."

He also appealed directly to Russians, saying: "To the citizens of Russia: You are not our enemy, and I don't believe you want a bloody, destructive war against Ukraine."

The human and strategic costs would be "immense" for Russia if it attacks, he added. "The world would not forget that Russia chose needless death and destruction."

Mr Biden said the US is "not seeking direct confrontation with Russia" and that American soldiers were not going to fight in Ukraine.

But if Russia were to attack Americans in Ukraine, "we will respond forcefully", Mr Biden warned, saying a Russian invasion would cause "consequences here at home", including in energy costs.

Mr Biden spoke to Mr Putin last Saturday and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, and has warned repeatedly of steep costs for Moscow, including sanctions against Russian businesses and oligarchs.

But he has laid out a road map for a peaceful resolution, including talks on missile deployments and military exercises to try to reduce tensions in the region.

Mr Biden issued a warning for Russia not to engage in cyber attacks. "If Russia attacks the United States or our allies through asymmetric means like disruptive cyber attacks against our companies or critical infrastructure, we're prepared to respond," he said.

In Ukraine, where people raised flags and played the national anthem to show unity, the Defence Ministry said a cyber attack was into its second day. Russia said it had nothing to do with that.

Russia said more of its forces surrounding Ukraine were withdrawing yesterday. Its Defence Ministry released a video that it said showed tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery units leaving the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said a pullout would be welcome but that moving troops about did not confirm it.

"It remains to be seen whether there is a Russian withdrawal... What we see is that they have increased the number of troops, and more troops are on the way," he told reporters at the start of a two-day meeting of Nato defence ministers at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels.

The Kremlin said Nato's assessment was wrong. Moscow's ambassador to Ireland said forces in western Russia would be back to their normal positions within three to four weeks.

China, which has cultivated closer relations with Russia as both countries have come under increasing criticism from the West, has accused the US of "playing up the threat of warfare and creating tension".

Military analysts say a key indicator of a significant pullback will be whether field hospitals and fuel stores are dismantled and units from Russia's far east, which are taking part in exercises in Belarus this week, return to their bases thousands of miles away.

REUTERS