Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin has built up an estimated 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s border, with the United States and its European allies trying to come up with a way to prevent an invasion and respond to Russia’s demands.
Vice Pres. Kamala Harris has warned Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine during an interview in Wisconsin this week.
“If Russia and Pres. Vladimir Putin were to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine there is going to be some serious consequences, and we are very clear about that,” VP Harris said to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel during an interview this week.
Vice president Harris’ comment is one of the highest-level responses from the Biden administration on the rising tensions in Ukraine since Pres. Joe Biden commented on this issue last week.
Joe Biden has sounded the alarm in Ukraine shortly after he seemed to suggest that it was a foregone conclusion that Pres. Putin would challenge the country’s territorial boundaries in some way.
“My guess is that he will move in, Putin has to do something,” Pres. Biden said during his press conference this week.
Despite the White house’s efforts to clean up Joe Biden’s comments, top Ukrainian officials have expressed their outrage by Joe Biden’s handling of the current crisis.
News of the State Dept. ordering family members of embassy staff within Ukraine to leave the nation only further signaled that the United States was preparing for hostilities to escalate.
A source close to Pres. Volodymyr Zelensky told Buzzfeed that Americans were safe.
“Quite frankly the Americans that are in Kyiv at the moment are much safer than they would be in Los Angeles…or any other crime-ridden city within the United States,” the source stated.
The president has refused to answer any questions from reporters on Ukraine this week, during an event on the administration’s struggles to address high inflation.
The White House said Joe Biden participated in a video call with the European leaders on the issue of Ukraine and had discussed “joint efforts to deter further aggressions of Russia and Pres. Putin against Ukraine.”