Time.news – The thin red line is drawn by Joe Biden at the end of an expected press conference, after almost two hours of question and answer.
It is when a journalist asks him to specify his words on the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, and the president reveals what he expects: “There may be a small foray and we would find ourselves fighting between what must be done and what must not be done ”. Message that worries Kiev because it means that in the event of a “small raid” the answer would not be automatic, which may amount to a “green light” signal for Moscow.
It is as if Washington has publicly stated that it is ready to “accept” a “small incursion” across the border, without firing, which saves the image of Russia, but not a large-scale “invasion”, which would imply an American reaction and of Europe. What effect will these words have on Moscow? President Vladimir Putin presses, the United States is increasingly convinced that the moment of the invasion of Ukraine is near.
Before the controversial final message, Biden had tried to play his cards, drawing on the rhetoric of the last few months: “Putin has never seen the sanctions I promised if he moves. I don’t think he is in the best position to dominate the world ”. “If they do what they are capable of with the forces massed at the border – he added – it will end up being a disaster for Russia”.
The president also admitted the possibility that there may be something different, like a cyber attack, but he wanted to reaffirm the compactness of NATO. “We are all in tune – he commented – if something happens, if the Russian forces cross the border, killing the Ukrainian fighters, I think everything will change”.
But that remains I distinguish between “raid” and “invasion”, which will not have left Kiev satisfied, also because the risk is enormous and imminent.
The president admitted that the situation could go “out of control”, and revealed the possibility of a new summit with Putin to defuse the crisis, which has now come one step away from the military epilogue. Any attempt at mediation will be carried out, is the summary, but everything is possible from now on, while on Friday the Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet in Geneva with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
The rest of the press conference from the East Room of the White House offered other, but less dramatic, insights: the confirmation of Kamala Harris in ticket also in 2024 (“He will be in the running with me and I think he is doing a good job”), a certain optimistic vision regarding the fight against the pandemic (“the best of this country is ahead, not behind, the virus will no longer upset our lives”), and a way out on the Welfare and Climate plan, blocked in Congress (“it will be approved in pieces, some parts will become law”).
A theme, together with Ukraine, returned several times in the questions of journalists: the reform on the right to vote. Biden has made no secret of his concern at Republican states’ attempts to restrict access to voting to harm Democrats.
“The legitimacy of the November elections is at stake with the right to vote under attack,” commented Biden, who announced a general mobilization of progressives, “like never before,” to inform the American people of what is happening. happening. But in the immediate future, the most pressing international attack remains that of Russia, with thousands of soldiers amassed on the border with Ukraine. Waiting for a “small foray” which, after the words spoken today by the head of the White House, appears less unlikely and less distant.