President Biden says Russia is likely to invade Ukraine

In addressing the increasing tension between Russia and Ukraine during a press briefing on Wednesday, President Joe Biden noted of Russian President Vladimir Putin, “my guess is he will move in.”

Russia has already amassed 100,000 troops at the border of the two countries but has consistently held that they have no plans to invade.

“I think he still does not want any full-blown war, number one. Number two, do I think he’ll test the west? Test the United States and NATO as significantly as he can? Yes, I think he will,” said Biden. “But I think he’ll pay a serious and dear price for it that he doesn’t think now will cost him what it’s going to cost him. And I think he’ll regret having done it.” 

U.S. officials previously issued several warnings regarding Russia’s concerning military buildup on the border with Ukraine. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Kyiv that Russia could possibly invade “on very short notice.”

Other western countries have voiced worries about Russia’s potential attack on Ukraine, which it invaded in 2014 when it annexed the Crimean Peninsula. In response, Britain has sent anti-tank weapons to Ukraine to assist the country in its self-defense. 

Although Russia has denied plans of a future attack, Moscow has said it would potentially take unspecified military action unless the West agrees to a list of demands, one of which is banning Ukraine from becoming a NATO member.

But Biden has said that Russia will be “held accountable if it invades,” although he added that “it depends on what it does.” Biden continued, “It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and we end up having to fight about what to do and not do, et cetera.”