Joe Biden may increase the alert of U.S. forces as Russia moves closer to invading Ukraine.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said Tuesday to CNN that “We are certainly not going out of options.” ‘Our job is to provide options to the president – to the commander in chief – and we’re going to continue to do that.’
He continued, “And so I would not rule out that we could put additional forces on high alert in the coming weeks and days,”. “And possibly even moving troops throughout Europe to support or reassure certain of our allies in the ground on Europe,’ he said.
Kirby reiterated that he could talk about higher numbers in the coming days and weeks.
Kirby, the Defense Department’s Monday briefing speaker, announced that 8500 U.S. soldiers were placed on alert for deployment while the world waits to see whether Russia invades Ukraine.
Kirby indicated that there is no definitive decision on deployments. However, he said the following: intelligence and transport units are included in the group of heightened alert.
NATO allies and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), are also moving more military equipment to the region, including aircraft and naval assets.
According to the New York Times, President Joe Biden has been considering sending up to 50,000 troops into Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries. However, this plan does not involve sending U.S. troops directly to Ukraine.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told CNN on Tuesday that Biden is not ruling out putting more U.S. forces on heightened alert as the world watches to see if Russia will invade Ukraine amid a build up of more than 100,000 Kremlin troops at the border
Russia has already deployed more than 100,000 troops to the east border of Ukraine, and there are thousands still stationed in other locations as tensions rise and worries about a possible Russian invasion.
Monday, January 25, 2012: Workers load a U.S. military assistance and security support shipment to Boryspil, Kyiv.
This new round of U.S. Security Assistance was delivered to Ukraine Tuesday. It includes ammunition and equipment. This assistance is in conjunction with other NATO member countries’ actions to strengthen a defense presence in Eastern Europe.
RUSSIA SHOULD BAN NATURAL GAS EXPORTS FROM BIDEN AS PART OF ITS PLAN TO SEND ENERGY to EUROPE. BIDEN PREPARES A PLAN
Biden’s administration has contingency plans for Russia’s natural gas or crude oil imports to Europe in the unlikely event of invasion by Ukraine.
This is President Joe Biden’s assurance to European allies that he won’t let Russian President Vladimir Putin freeze the country this winter.
European allies worry that Putin could cut off their supply chain as a retaliation against any US economic sanctions they have promised to place in the case of Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On Tuesday, a top administration official stated that Russia would have to use crude oil or natural gas to make it more competitive.
To ensure that Europe is not affected by Russia’s withdrawal of supplies, the United States has partnered with producers of energy in Asia, Africa and Middle East.
Russia supplies around one third of Europe’s gas needs. Germany is by far the most important buyer of Russian natural gas. According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency Eurostat says that Germany imports more than 50% of Russia’s gas compared with around 40% for the European Union.
The Boryspil, Ukraine airport received a fresh batch of U.S. Military Aid and Security Assistance on Tuesday.
To strengthen the defense of Eastern Europe, this latest shipment comprises equipment and ammunition.
American officials have also pledged harsher sanctions should Russia invade their neighbor. It will be a more aggressive approach to Russia’s aggression than that taken in 2014.
“The gradualism that was in the past has ended.” On the briefing call, a top administration official stated that this time we will start at the top and remain there.
As Russia is second in oil production behind the United States, a war with Ukraine could disrupt the global energy market.
Allies of Europe are concerned that Vladimir Putin will cut their supply chains in retaliation to any sanctions the United States may impose in case of an invasion by Russia in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with students at a university to commemorate Russian Students Day.
Russia is the source of around a quarter of the European Union’s natural gas supplies. This figure exceeds the Nord Stream 2 starting point.
One serviceman holds his machine gun in front of the Ukrainian government troops in Slavyanoserbsk in Luhansk on Tuesday.
Russia also exports large quantities of natural gas through its pipeline system through Ukraine to Europe. This would make it difficult for a war to disrupt the pipeline and cause damage to infrastructure.
American officials have been working for the past six to eight week to develop a strategy that will explore the contingency options available to boost gas supplies in different regions of the world.
The briefing call was attended by senior officials from the administration who declined to reveal details on which countries or companies they were discussing with.
However, the official stated that they were interested in companies who could boost their energy production.
“We are looking into it is to ensure that some suppliers are capable of bringing on volumes to Europe via pipelines and increasing their production,” said the top administration official.
Officials said that the discussions were taking place on a global scale with many countries and corporations.
The official stated that you don’t have to ask any individual country or company to boost exports in significant quantities, but instead smaller volumes coming from many sources. We can get enough gas by combining the larger picture.
Officials also mentioned that Europe can draw on its reserves to provide winter support if necessary.
The American officials also warned Putin that he would suffer the most if he cut off his European customers. They pointed out that Russia’s energy exports are crucial to its economy.
Remember, Russia’s oil and gas export revenue is two-thirds of its total and roughly half of Russia’s federal budget revenues. According to a senior official in the administration, this does not give Putin an advantage.
Official noted that “He’s creating a significant incentive for Europe’s diversification of their energie supplies away from Russia,”
If Russia invades Ukraine, the United States may impose an unusual export restriction to stop Russia from obtaining key components of their tech industries.
The control is designed to prevent the import of cutting-edge, ‘novel American’ products to Russia. This is in an effort to deny Putin’s regime technology that could be used to fight any future war with Ukraine.
These export restrictions can be viewed as trade controls in support of U.S. wider national security interests. On Tuesday, a senior administration official stated that they use them to stop the export of U.S.-made products to Russia as well as potentially other foreign products which fall within U.S. export regulations.
Officials said the Biden administration may also opt to apply the control to restrict Russia’s access to semiconductors, and therefore making it harder for Russians to get their hands on smartphones, games consoles and tablets.
The U.S. and the EU already have sanctions on Russia’s energy, financial and defense sectors, with tensions between Moscow and Western powers raising the prospect of new economic sanctions being imposed if Russia attacks neighboring Ukraine.
The White House also proposes curbs for Russia’s top banks. It has already proposed measures to restrict Moscow’s ability of converting rubles into dollars.
Such export controls that expand U.S. sanctions beyond financial targets have only been deployed once before against Huawei, the Chinese tech giant.
The measures, implemented over fears its products were being used to spy on behalf of China’s communist government, went towards Huawei experiencing a 30 percent drop in annual revenue – its first ever.
Officials in the senior administration pointed out that Russia cannot take too much economic pain.
Putin’s tolerance for economic pain may not be as high as other leaders but it is still higher than others. However, there’s an upper limit of pain that we believe can be controlled, a senior official stated on Tuesday’s conference call.
A BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WILL HOLD CLASSIFIED BERIEFINGS FOR CONGRESS
Meanwhile, members of the Biden administration will hold two classified congressional briefings on Tuesday to update leadership aides and committee staff on the deteriorating situation in Ukraine, a new report reveals.
Congress will be out of session next week. Members of the Senate and House of Representatives will need to wait to get their briefings from the Administration.
Both Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, and Chuck Schumer the Senate Majority Leader have requested full chamber briefings as Russia builds up its military presence on the border with Ukraine.
Punchbowl News’ Tuesday morning newsletter featured a Biden official saying that since the crisis began, Secretary of States Antony Blinken (Secretary) and Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman had spoken to nearly 20 lawmakers in just six weeks. The officials also stated they plan to make more calls this week.
Biden, according to the official, had a conversation December 7 with the ‘Big Four’ party leaders about Ukraine and Russia – the group consists of Pelosi, Schumer and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Two classified briefings will be held by Joe Biden’s government on Tuesday, to inform leadership aides as well as committee staff about the latest developments in Ukraine.
Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker (left), and Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader (right), demanded full chamber briefings after reports surfaced that Biden might deploy up to 50,000 U.S. soldiers to the region.
The president was also represented by a bipartisan group made up of senators, who recently returned to Kyiv from Kyiv.
Jake Sullivan, the National Security Adviser held six briefings at Congress for leadership, leaders, and ranking members from national security committees.
McConnell said Monday to CNN’s Manu Raju that he had spoken recently with Sullivan about the escalating Ukraine–Russia conflict.
Although there were nine briefings by interagency for national security committees, and eight for committee leadership and committee staff, the leadership wants to have the entire chamber briefed on this matter by the administration.
Numerous lawmakers continue to push for diplomatic alternatives rather than troop deployment, while others call for preemptive sanctions.
Republicans have criticised President Biden as being too talkative and inaction regarding sanctioning Kremlin.
Members are calling on Russia to be removed from SWIFT’s banking system. This is where financial transactions take place worldwide.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are working together to pass legislation that will bolster Ukraine’s defenses as well as punish Russia in light of the growing threat for invasion.
A bipartisan group consisting of eight senators met Monday night to debate a Democrat-proposed Russia sanction bill. This was to stop Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine. There were four Democrats and four Republicans who discussed potential changes to the legislation which might win 10 more GOP members.
According to Politico’s report, the preliminary discussions revolved around Senator Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez’s “mother of all sanction” legislation. It authorizes severe financial penalties, which would only apply in the instance of Russian invading Ukraine.
Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan means that Republicans are skeptical about how President Obama will handle Europe’s impending conflict. Congress will be alerted to American participation in Europe five months after the disaster that was Afghanistan’s pullout.
According to The New York Times, NATO and Biden are likely to write to Russian President Vladimir Putin to request a diplomatic option to prevent conflict.
Three areas are on the top of Putin’s potential for compromise – assurances that Ukraine won’t enter NATO, the group’s vow not to further expand and a restoration to Russia’s influence in the region before the strategic map of Europe was redrawn in the 1990s.
Biden will deliver the State of the Union Address on March 1. However, the president might need to give a national address about rising tensions within Eastern Europe prior to that date. This is especially important if the possibility of a troop deployment increases between now and then.
On Monday, President Biden spoke with representatives from France, Germany and Italy. The video chat lasted around 90 minutes.
Biden stated that it was a great meeting during Monday’s meeting with his cabinet regarding inflation. “Total unity with all European leaders. Later, we’ll discuss it.
He declined to speak further about the current news in Europe’s worsening conflicts, claiming that the media wouldn’t report on his call for a meeting on inflation.
NATO members discussed their joint efforts to prevent further Russian aggression towards Ukraine. This included preparations for Russia to inflict severe economic consequences as well as imposing massive consequences.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the leaders had agreed to pay’severe’ costs to Russia in case of an invasion by Moscow.
He wrote, “We agree to any further aggression of #Russia against Ukraine will incur severe costs,”
The Pentagon clarified U.S. strategy in light of reports that U.S. may consider a large deployment, possibly up to 50,000 troops.
John Kirby, Defense Department spokesperson said Monday that it was about “getting people ready for the future”. He claimed that most of these troops will be ground forces.
He assured them that they will be ready should NATO activate the NATO Response Force, (NRF), and in the event of a deteriorating security situation.
“There is no mission in itself, but this is about [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin]Kirby explained to reporters that Kirby was trying to prevent activation of units and gave them time to prepare.
NATO Response Force includes approximately 40,000 international troops on land, water, maritime, and Special Operations Forces components.
Kirby explained that this move sends a strong signal that NATO is on its side and ensures that allies have the capability they require to defend themselves.
Russia is continuing to move and build up forces in Ukraine while the U.S. calls for preemptive sanctions before any invasion. Here a screen shot is taken from a Russian Defense Ministry Press Service video showing an armored vehicle driving off a railway platform after arrival in Belarus on Wednesday, January 19, 2022
He stated that troops were currently in a ‘heightened alert’ position and had no plans to deploy.
They would dedicate the bulk of them to the NRF, which could be activated by the Western defensive alliance. Austin added however that the 8,500 soldiers should be positioned for any other contingencies.
Kirby stated that most of the standby troops are active duty military personnel. However, Kirby didn’t rule out the possibility to have reserve units assembled.
Austin instructed the troops that they be available to go under President Joe Biden’s command.
Kirby stated that the unit flagged to be deployed to Eastern Europe will be announced and notified in the very near future.
He said, “It is very evident that the Russians do not intend to de-escalate right now.”
Ukraine arrested saboteurs “coordinated Russian special services” who planned a series of attacks aimed at destabilizing the border regions
Ukraine has claimed that it had arrested Russian-backed terrorists who planned to strike at the border with the intention of destabilizing the country.
According to Ukraine’s SBU security services, the ‘criminal group’ was planning a series of attacks on infrastructure in cities ‘coordinated with Russian special service’.
During raids, in which two Russian citizens were detained, they were both arrested. Kharkiv close to the Russian frontier and Zhytomyr (in western Ukraine)., today.
Agents believe the duo had been recruiting men, most of them Russian criminals, to participate in the attacks under cover of security companies.
It occurs amid Russian troop buildup near Ukraine. US warns Moscow to launch false flag attacks at border regions in order to justify an invasion.
Russia has announced that it will conduct snap exercises with 6,000 troops in an area around the Crimea that is not included in its tensions. It also plans to send at least 60 fighter planes.
Agents from the Ukrainian Security Service raided a house they claimed was being used to plot a string of border robberies.
In raids carried out on Tuesday, agents seized weapons, ammunition and radio frequency jammers, as well as other equipment.
Russian news agencies reported that the south military district described live-fire drills in a combat readiness test. They are part of an ongoing campaign of pressure against Ukraine which Putin hopes will yield security concessions.
Ukrainian agents claimed Tuesday that the couple were plotting a series of robberies to target ‘urban infrastructure,’ including commercial property.
According to reports, the gang was organized by two Russian citizens who recruited criminals through the disguise of a security agency.
Raids were conducted Tuesday on properties belonging to the two alleged organizers. Police claimed they discovered a bomb and guns, as well ammunition.
It is also alleged that devices were discovered to interfere with radio communication. Plans detailing the robberies and walkie-talkies used to communicate are among them.
The SBU stated that computers and other electronic devices were taken with evidence of criminal activity.
Photographs show that officers also confiscated large amounts of cash in US dollars and Ukrainian hryvnia bills.
Ukraine claims that the Russian special forces coordinated the coordination of the crime group operating as a security firm.
Also seized were large amounts of cash in US dollars and local hryvnia money.
Boris Johnson: UK might send troops to fight Russia
Boris Johnson proposed that British combat troops be deployed to confront Russian forces in Ukraine, as tensions rise between Vladimir Putin (the West) and Boris Johnson.
According to Prime Minister, the UK would contribute to any NATO deployment. Allies have been preparing soldiers for war and sending fighter and bomber aircraft to troubled regions.
According to estimates, 100,000 Russian soldiers have gathered at Ukraine’s border and intensive diplomatic activities has not helped ease tensions.
Yesterday night, the United States deployed 8,500 troops to high alert in order to quickly deploy troops to Europe.
As allies prepared soldiers to send warships and fighter planes to troubled regions, the Prime Minister stated to MPs that Britain would like to help any new NATO deployment.
Denmark has dispatched a ship to the Baltic Sea, is planning to fly F-16 fighter fighters to Lithuania, Spain sent ships, is contemplating sending fighter fighters to Bulgaria and France expressed readiness to send troops. From April, the Netherlands will be sending two F-35 fighters planes over to Bulgaria.
Johnson made a statement to the House of Commons warning that, if something bad happens in Ukraine, the resistance of the country ‘would have been dogged and persistent, with the bloodshed comparable as the wars in Bosnia or Chechnya’.
He said: “The British Army is leading the NATO battle group in Estonia, and should Russia invade Ukraine, we will look to support any Nato deployments to defend our European allies.”
“We can’t bargain with the vision of Europe as a whole and free continent that emerged during those incredible years 1989-91, which healed the fractures in our continent caused by the Iron Curtain.
We will not open that gap by agreeing to reverse the European Security Order because Russia has given a gun to Ukraine.
He added: ‘If Russia pursues this path, many Russian mothers’ sons will not be coming home.’