State Department spokesman Ned Price at a press conference reiterated the views of USA and State Department on the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, stressing that Moscow will face a strong US response in case of an invasion of Ukraine.
During the press conference, Price referred to the previous diplomatic activities of the State Department and Anthony Blinken in Europe and reiterated that all Western allies have the same position on Russia, MIA reports.
“We have heard, and you in turn have heard from not only us but from our European allies and partners, individual allies, NATO, the OSCE, the G7, the European Union, the European Council – you have heard the same message: If any Russian forces move across the border, that’s a renewed invasion; it will be met with a swift, severe, and united response on the part of the United States and on the part of our allies”, said Price.
“We do expect to be in a position to send a written response this week. Before we do that, and what we are doing right now – and this gets to your earlier question about the engagement with our European allies and partners – what we have been doing, as you know and as you’ve seen, is constant coordination and consultation with our allies and partners on the other side of the Atlantic. We’ve been doing this in terms of the unprecedented, swift, strong, severe, united response that Russia would endure in the event of further aggression, but we’ve also been doing it in the context of the written response that we will provide to the Russian Federation, just as we’ve been doing it in response to what we’ve been saying about areas where there may be the potential for progress on reciprocal steps that could enhance our collective security. And by collective security, I mean the security of the transatlantic community but also potentially address some of the concerns that Russia has put forward. So as we consider the next step in our engagement – and that is, in fact, the provision of a written response to the Russian Federation – we are sharing those ideas with our – and we have shared those ideas with our European allies and partners. We are taking their feedback. We are incorporating that feedback into the written response. And when we’re prepared to transmit it, we will. I do expect that will be this week”, declared Price.
Moreover, Price said that when it comes to what the Russians have planned, it is clear as day that anyone can see the massive buildup of Russian forces along Ukraine’s borders. “We have been very clear about our concerns when it comes to other forms of aggression and provocations that the Russians might seek to take and have already taken. But there is only one person who knows what the Russian Federation has in store for Ukraine, and that’s Vladimir Putin”, added Price.
