BIDEN-AFGHANISTAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is ready to warn Vladimir Putin during a video call that Russia will face economy-jarring sanctions if it invades neighboring Ukraine. The U.S. president is seeking a diplomatic solution to deal with the tens of thousands of Russian troops massed near the Ukraine border.
White House officials say Biden will make clear Tuesday that his administration is prepared to exact new sanctions against the Kremlin that would have huge costs for the Russian economy. Putin is expected to demand guarantees from Biden that the NATO military alliance will never expand to include Ukraine. Biden has said he won’t accept such “red lines.”
“What I am doing is putting together what I believe to be–will be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do,” Biden told ABC News White House correspondent MaryAlice Parks on Friday.
