The U.S. and its allies will respond “decisively” to a Russian invasion of Ukraine, a top Biden administration official said Sunday, even as Ukrainian leaders downplayed the crisis and publicly asked to see evidence that a Russian attack is imminent.
The vastly different attitudes in Washington and Kyiv came into sharp focus over the weekend. The U.S. began withdrawing personnel from its embassy in Ukraine’s capital city, moved 160 American troops out of the country and warned U.S. citizens to get out immediately or risk their lives when Russian tanks roll into Ukraine. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan delivered an especially firm message during a round of interviews Sunday morning.
“We are prepared to respond immediately and decisively, flanked by our allies and partners, if Russia moves forward,” he told CNN’s “State of the Union” program.
“We will defend NATO territory. We will impose costs on Russia. And we will ensure we emerge from this, as the West, stronger, more determined, more purposeful than we have been in 30 years and that Russia ultimately suffers a significant strategic cost for military action,” Mr. Sullivan said.
He reiterated the administration’s belief that Russia is prepared to launch a false-flag operation to create a pretext for an invasion. The U.S. has spent weeks warning of such a scenario. With an estimated 130,000 Russian troops now stationed along the Ukrainian border, the administration has doubled down on its assertion that an invasion is all but certain.
U.S. intelligence estimates have reportedly pinned Wednesday as the date when an attack could commence.
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Ukrainian leaders seemed to dismiss those warnings. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used a broadcast address Sunday to appeal for calm and to cast doubt on the West’s repeated claims that Russian forces will soon cross into his nation.
“We understand all the risks, we understand that there are risks,” he said. “If you or anyone else has additional information regarding a 100% Russian invasion starting on the 16th, please forward that information to us.”
The administration has been tight-lipped about specific intelligence on a looming Russian attack. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said a “mosaic of intelligence” suggests a coming Russian assault, but he did not offer further detail.
“We have good sources of intelligence, and they’re telling us that, you know, that things are sort of building now to some crescendo opportunity for Mr. Putin,” he told “Fox News Sunday.”
Faced with charges that the Pentagon is fearmongering, Mr. Sullivan said there is a clear benefit to publicly revealing pieces of intelligence about Russian plans.
“We are putting forward this intelligence to stop a war,” Mr. Sullivan said. “The world should be prepared for Russia staging a pretext and then launching a potential military action.”
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Hours after Mr. Sullivan’s round of interviews, Mr. Biden spoke on the phone with Mr. Zelenskyy.
“The two leaders agreed on the importance of continuing to pursue diplomacy and deterrence in response to Russia’s military build-up on Ukraine’s borders,” the White House said in a readout of the call.
Mr. Biden spoke Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, though both sides acknowledged no breakthrough to defuse the crisis.
As the administration pushes Americans to get out of Ukraine, exit plans are becoming more difficult. Several airlines said Sunday that they were canceling or diverting planes away from the country. The Defense Department has repeatedly said that the military will not evacuate Americans from Ukraine despite Mr. Biden’s order late last week to send an additional 3,000 U.S. troops to Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and its NATO allies are prepared to unleash another round of economic sanctions if Russia proceeds with an invasion. Whether such financial moves will have an impact raises serious questions.
Viktor Tatarintsev, Russia’s ambassador to Sweden, mocked the idea of sanctions during a weekend interview with the Swedish news outlet Aftonbladet.
“Excuse my language, but we don’t give a sh— about all their sanctions,” he said, according to multiple English-language media translations of his remarks.
The crass comments underscore a deeper concern across the West. Fears are growing that economic sanctions, no matter how harsh, won’t dissuade Mr. Putin from trying to claim parts of Ukraine through military force, just as he did with Crimea in 2014.
Critics of the administration say the U.S. should act now rather than wait for an invasion. They say that rolling out sanctions now could pressure Mr. Putin to abandon such plans.
“He’s got 100,000 troops amassed on the Ukrainian border, and he’s paying no price at all. So I’d like to hit him now for the provocation, and have sanctions spelled out very clearly, what happens to the ruble and his oil and gas economy. I think that’s what’s missing,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, told ABC’s “This Week” program on Sunday.
“We’re talking way too much, and we’re doing too little,” he said.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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