The White House says President Joe Biden has warned Ukraine’s president that there is a “distinct possibility” that Russia could take military action against Ukraine in February, as the United States sought an open UN Security Council meeting to discuss the crisis.
The news comes as the Kremlin likewise sounded a grim note on Thursday, saying it saw “little ground for optimism” in resolving the crisis after the US this week again rejected Russia’s main demands.
Speaking at the Pentagon on Friday, top US officials urged a focus on diplomacy while saying that Russia now had enough troops and equipment in place to threaten the whole of Ukraine.
Any such conflict warned the top US general, Mark Milley would be “horrific” for both sides.
“If that was unleashed on Ukraine, it would be significant, very significant, and it would result in a significant amount of casualties,” Milley said.
“It would be horrific, it will be terrible,” the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff added.
Speaking alongside Milley, US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said the buildup of Russian forces along Ukraine’s border has reached the point where Putin now has a complete range of military options, including actions short of a full-scale invasion.
On Friday, President Biden said he planned to send some U.S. troops to Eastern Europe, describing the number as “not too many.”
Even as the West rushes billions of dollars worth of economic and military assistance to Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized how the United States and its close allies have handled the escalating tensions.
The 44-year-old leader faulted the West for waiting to impose more damaging sanctions on Moscow, while also assailing decisions by the United States, Britain, and Australia to withdraw some embassy staff and families, and accusing his Western counterparts of inciting “panic” with repeated suggestions that an invasion was imminent.
Biden’s comments come hours after the top US military general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, warned a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be “horrific” for the country and would result in “significant” casualties as he urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to choose a diplomatic path instead.
“Given the type of forces that are arrayed … if that was unleashed on Ukraine, it would be significant, very significant, and it would result in a significant amount of casualties,” Milley said at a Pentagon press briefing Friday. “You can imagine what that might look like in dense urban areas, along roads, and so on and so forth. It would be horrific. It would be terrible. And it’s not necessary. And we think a diplomatic outcome is a way to go here.”
Milley, who along with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin briefed reporters Friday on the US military’s preparations, spoke of Ukraine’s geography, noting that when its “high water table” freezes, “it makes it for optimal conditions for cross-country tract and wheeled vehicle maneuver.”
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“There are many people and highly dense population centers throughout Ukraine. And if war were to break out on a scale and scope that is possible, the civilian population will suffer immensely,” he said.
Milley’s remarks stand in contrast to the message coming from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky spoke to Biden by phone Thursday, where the two leaders disagreed on the urgency of the threat Russia poses, and Zelensky reiterated his view speaking in Ukraine Friday that the rhetoric risks causing panic and destabilizing his country’s economy.
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