US President Joe Biden gave a speech on Tuesday afternoon in which he mixed the offer of objective negotiations with Russia on security in Europe with renewed threats and the assessment that Moscow could invade Ukraine. .
He praised Vladimir Putin’s decision to announce the departure of some of the “150,000 troops”, according to the US account, who are around Russia’s neighbor.
“But we haven’t been able to verify that yet. On the contrary, our experts consider the invasion to be a very distinct possibility,” Biden said.
The American president, however, dedicated the opening part of his speech to the idea that there could be a written agreement with the Russians that addresses Putin’s strategic concerns.
This may involve “security arrangements” and “arms control”, but without “sacrificing basic principles”. “There is still a lot of room for diplomacy,” he said.
It is calculated speech. Putin had issued an ultimatum basically asking NATO (the US-led 30-nation military club) to desist from absorbing ex-communist countries, fearing Western forces and structures at their doors.
While this is obviously unacceptable to the West, as a capitulation there are possible compromises in between. What American options might be to Putin’s demands is unclear.
The rest of the speech was a repetition of Biden’s more aggressive rhetoric, promising international reaction in the event of war, and an appeal in which he mixed a confrontation with the US – which has no commitment to Ukraine’s military defense because it is not of the NATO—and a localized clash.
“We are not your enemies,” he said, hypothetically addressing the Russian people. He even recalled that both fought on the same side in World War II (for both, from 1941, two years after the start of the conflict in Europe, until 1945).
Given the general climate of possible detente — accompanied by military signals not to show weakness on the part of Russia — the last two days have given Biden the opportunity to modulate his speech.
