Fresh moves to stop Putin ordering Ukraine invasion

Efforts come after Biden says Russia will ‘pay price’ if it goes ahead

NEW efforts to stop Vladimir Putin ordering an invasion of Ukraine were under way today after Joe Biden warned that Russia will pay a “serious and dear price” if it goes ahead.

The US president said he expects Russian troops to “move in” and admitted that he was uncertain about the West’s response to any “minor incursion” because of divisions among Nato allies.

He added, however, that any full-scale invasion would be “the most consequential thing that’s happened in the world in terms of war and peace since World War Two” and could “get out of hand” while bringing disastrous consequences for Russia. “This is not all just a cakewalk for Russia militarily,” Mr Biden told a White House news conference.

“They’ll pay a stiff price, immediately, short-term, medium-term and longterm if they do it.”

Asked about what he thinks Mr Putin, left, will do, Mr Biden replied: “My guess is he will move in. He has to do something. “Do I think he’ll test the West? Test the United States and Nato as significantly as he can? Yes, I think he will but I think he’ll pay a serious and dear price for it.” Mr Biden admitted, however, that there were different attitudes among US allies towards the crisis.

“There are differences in Nato as to what countries are willing to do, depending on what happens. If there’s Russian forces crossing the border… I think that changes everything.

“What you’re going to see is that Russia will be held accountable if it invades and it depends on what it does,” he said.

Those remarks drew a mixed response with some observers fearing that Mr Biden’s openness about Nato divisions might be seen by Mr Putin as evidence that he can get away with a minor advance into Ukraine without triggering any significant international response.

The White House press secretary Jen Psaki sought to clarify the position immediately afterwards, saying that any incursion into Ukrainian territory would be met with a “swift, severe and united response”.

Mr Biden’s warning came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Berlin for talks with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and her German and French counterparts following discussions in Kiev yesterday and ahead of talks with Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva tomorrow.

His aim is to achieve a diplomatic solution, but Mr Blinken has warned that Russia could attack its neighbour “at very short notice” in further confirmation of American fears that the 100,000 troops deployed by the Kremlin to the Ukrainian border could soon begin to move across.

French president Emmanuel Macron told the European Parliament yesterday that Europe’s leaders should conduct their own talks with Mr Putin.

Armed Forces minister James Heappey yesterday warned that tens of thousands of people could die if Russia launches into an “extraordinarily stupid” conflict with Ukraine.

He said it is not “remotely realistic” that British troops would engage in combat with the Russian military, but he added the Ukrainians are “ready to fight for every inch of their country”.