The Prague Post - Biden warns of 'disaster for Russia' if they invade Ukraine

EUR -
AED 4.179243
AFN 80.810524
ALL 98.715295
AMD 442.438618
ANG 2.050691
AOA 1042.247794
ARS 1325.560361
AUD 1.774621
AWG 2.05093
AZN 1.931747
BAM 1.955095
BBD 2.278879
BDT 138.200198
BGN 1.959585
BHD 0.428911
BIF 3382.880944
BMD 1.137825
BND 1.490463
BOB 7.859133
BRL 6.394351
BSD 1.1374
BTN 96.880662
BWP 15.528541
BYN 3.722259
BYR 22301.369472
BZD 2.284777
CAD 1.573481
CDF 3274.660094
CHF 0.93746
CLF 0.02804
CLP 1076.029359
CNY 8.271419
CNH 8.266725
COP 4775.451412
CRC 575.007951
CUC 1.137825
CUP 30.152362
CVE 110.224795
CZK 24.927492
DJF 202.54701
DKK 7.465155
DOP 67.027613
DZD 150.521735
EGP 57.835986
ERN 17.067375
ETB 152.252872
FJD 2.567385
FKP 0.849564
GBP 0.849694
GEL 3.123397
GGP 0.849564
GHS 16.265067
GIP 0.849564
GMD 81.354276
GNF 9851.363379
GTQ 8.759805
GYD 238.672943
HKD 8.826063
HNL 29.516623
HRK 7.53285
HTG 148.826369
HUF 404.303011
IDR 18934.545377
ILS 4.131039
IMP 0.849564
INR 96.820883
IQD 1490.06304
IRR 47902.43118
ISK 146.097466
JEP 0.849564
JMD 180.176655
JOD 0.806942
JPY 162.302201
KES 147.178113
KGS 99.502471
KHR 4553.319147
KMF 491.824654
KPW 1024.158266
KRW 1617.844914
KWD 0.348538
KYD 0.947858
KZT 581.820335
LAK 24602.134368
LBP 101912.374829
LKR 340.717219
LRD 227.487023
LSL 21.105694
LTL 3.359701
LVL 0.688258
LYD 6.222758
MAD 10.550752
MDL 19.574946
MGA 5133.195314
MKD 61.512294
MMK 2389.187997
MNT 4064.744358
MOP 9.088525
MRU 45.030169
MUR 51.463591
MVR 17.51147
MWK 1972.306593
MXN 22.249308
MYR 4.905159
MZN 72.832552
NAD 21.105694
NGN 1822.249091
NIO 41.854917
NOK 11.792446
NPR 155.014226
NZD 1.915579
OMR 0.438057
PAB 1.137385
PEN 4.170097
PGK 4.712281
PHP 63.534439
PKR 319.531162
PLN 4.268266
PYG 9108.71758
QAR 4.146488
RON 4.977076
RSD 117.157781
RUB 93.302508
RWF 1625.92837
SAR 4.268019
SBD 9.513693
SCR 16.671368
SDG 683.323174
SEK 10.973241
SGD 1.48563
SHP 0.894152
SLE 25.885581
SLL 23859.602297
SOS 650.071453
SRD 41.928441
STD 23550.679683
SVC 9.952414
SYP 14793.956034
SZL 21.098582
THB 37.913408
TJS 12.010808
TMT 3.993766
TND 3.402359
TOP 2.664902
TRY 43.805795
TTD 7.717219
TWD 36.40468
TZS 3055.060085
UAH 47.253887
UGX 4168.479528
USD 1.137825
UYU 47.891689
UZS 14727.692725
VES 98.476601
VND 29589.138425
VUV 138.026121
WST 3.151879
XAF 655.726465
XAG 0.034617
XAU 0.000344
XCD 3.075029
XDR 0.815513
XOF 655.720704
XPF 119.331742
YER 278.824402
ZAR 21.10679
ZMK 10241.797846
ZMW 31.819534
ZWL 366.379177
  • SCS

    0.1500

    10.01

    +1.5%

  • RELX

    0.4300

    53.79

    +0.8%

  • CMSC

    -0.0800

    22.24

    -0.36%

  • RBGPF

    -0.4500

    63

    -0.71%

  • NGG

    0.1900

    73.04

    +0.26%

  • CMSD

    -0.1300

    22.35

    -0.58%

  • RIO

    0.0100

    60.88

    +0.02%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1300

    10.12

    -1.28%

  • GSK

    0.9100

    38.97

    +2.34%

  • AZN

    1.7800

    71.71

    +2.48%

  • JRI

    0.1300

    12.93

    +1.01%

  • BCE

    0.1100

    21.92

    +0.5%

  • BCC

    -0.8300

    94.5

    -0.88%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.58

    +0.1%

  • BTI

    0.4700

    42.86

    +1.1%

  • BP

    -1.0600

    28.07

    -3.78%

Biden warns of 'disaster for Russia' if they invade Ukraine
Biden warns of 'disaster for Russia' if they invade Ukraine

Biden warns of 'disaster for Russia' if they invade Ukraine

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he expects Russia to "move in" on Ukraine but warned that Moscow will pay a stiff price for a full-blown invasion.

Text size:

Biden said he did not believe that President Vladimir Putin wants a war, but said the Russian leader has created a situation that is proving extremely difficult to defuse -- and that could easily "get out of hand" in the region.

"My guess is he will move in. He has to do something," Biden said during a press conference marking his first year in office, predicting a "minor incursion" to test the United States.

With more than 100,000 troops and war-making machinery poised on Ukraine's borders, Moscow has sent alarms through the West over its threat to Kyiv.

Biden warned Moscow against a full invasion, saying: "Our allies and partners are ready to impose severe costs and significant harm on Russia and the Russian economy."

"If they actually do what they're capable of doing with the force they've massed on the border, it is going to be a disaster for Russia," Biden told reporters.

"The cost of going into Ukraine in terms of physical loss of life, for the Russians... it's going to be heavy."

The US leader sparked controversy however when he suggested that "something significantly short of a significant invasion" would be met with a lesser pushback from NATO.

"It's one thing if it's a minor incursion, and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do, etcetera," he said.

- 'Swift' and 'severe' -

The White House moved swiftly to clarify Biden's comments, with Press Secretary Jen Psaki vowing: "If any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border, that's a renewed invasion, and it will be met with a swift, severe, and united response from the United States and our allies."

Psaki further stressed in a statement that Russian "have an extensive playbook of aggression short of military action, including cyberattacks and paramilitary tactics. "

Biden "affirmed today that those acts of Russian aggression will be met with a decisive, reciprocal, and united response," she said.

Asked directly if Biden was giving tacit approval for a limited Russian move against Ukraine, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said Biden was speaking of non-military interference in the country.

Nevertheless, Biden was blasted for the comment by Republican opponents.

"Joe Biden's impotence emboldened Vladimir Putin and now he just green-lighted Putin to invade Ukraine," tweeted Senator Tom Cotton.

- ' Room to work' -

Biden was speaking ahead of a meeting on Friday in Geneva between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva.

Blinken held meetings in Kyiv Wednesday in preparations for the Geneva talks, and urged Moscow to choose the "peaceful path."

In Washington Biden appeared to suggest ways of deconfliction, playing down Putin's biggest worries, that Ukraine would join NATO and that the West would position strategic weapons in Ukraine.

And he opened the door for a new summit with his Russian counterpart.

"There's room to work if he wants to do that," he said.

"What I'm concerned about is this could get out of hand, very easily get out of hand, because of... the borders of Ukraine, and what Russia may or may not do," he said.

"I am hoping that Vladimir Putin understands that, short of a full-blown nuclear war, he is not in a very good position to dominate the world," Biden said.

"Putin has, I know, a stark choice, either escalation or diplomacy," he said.

"I think he will pay a serious and dear price for it if he doesn't think now."

W.Cejka--TPP