US warns Russia: We'll respond quickly and harshly if you send forces to Ukraine

Blinken's comments in Berlin seem to represent another attempt to clear up any possible confusion about the position of the United States and NATO Allied states, as President Joe Biden was widely criticised for the phrase that a small “intervention by Russia would receive a lower response.

“If Russian military forces cross the Ukrainian border and commit new acts of aggression against Ukraine, they will receive a quick, harsh and united response from the United States, our allies and partners”, Secretary Blinken said during a press conference with his German counterpart.

In addition, Secretary Blinken accused Russia of jeopardising the foundations of world order with the gathering of about 100,000 military forces near the Ukrainian border. He said Russia must face a co-ordinated and severe global response if it invades Ukraine.

The harsh warning was made by Berlin, the once divided city that had become a symbol of the Cold War between East and West. Secretary Blinken prepares to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on Friday, under efforts to reduce tensions that do not seem to be successful.

The issues we are facing are difficult, and their solution will not take place at speed at”, Secretary Blinken said. “Of course I don't expect you to solve it tomorrow in Geneva”.

Secretary Blinken said Russia's actions against Ukraine are an attempt to overturn international norms and are only the latest violation among some that Moscow has undertaken in opposition to treaties, agreements and countless other international commitments, at the expense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries.

If we allow Russia to violate these principles without punishment, it would draw us all back into far more dangerous and uncertain times, when this continent, and this city, were divided in half, divided into neutral ground in the middle of which soldiers patrolled, with the threat of a frontal struggle hovering over the lives of all”, Secretary Blanken told the audience at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. “

“We will not address the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity as negotiable”, he said, adding that the situation is “greater than just a conflict between the two countries, and greater than a clash between Russia and NATO. It's a crisis of global consequences. And it requires global attention and action”.

The talk was given after Secretary Blinken and British, France, and Germany's top diplomats met in Berlin to design a common front in front of Russia, worried that it might be planning the invasion of Ukraine. A day earlier, he met in Kiev with the Ukrainian president to discuss this danger.

President Beden said on Wednesday that he thinks Moscow will invade Ukraine and warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that if it does, his country will pay “a high price” in lost lives, as well as a possible exception from the global banking system.

But, President Biden also caused anxiety for allied countries when he said that the response to a Russian invasion “would depend on” actions. He talked about the “situation if there was a slight intervention and then we would end up arguing about what we should do and what we shouldn't do, etc.”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is among the people who expressed concern. We want to remind them of the great powers that there are no small interventions and small places. Just as there are few victims and a little mourning for losing loved ones”, he wrote on Twitter.

Secretary Blinken tried to stress on Thursday that the United States and allied countries are united in the face of Moscow's actions, noting that American diplomats have held over 100 meetings with allies over the past weeks “to make sure that we are talking and acting together when it comes to Russia”.

This unity gives us power, a power that I can say Russia does not and cannot reach”, he said. So we build alliances and voluntary partnerships. That's why Russia tries irresponsiblely to divide us”.

Russia has denied that it is planning an invasion and even accused the West Thursday of planning provocations to Ukraine, citing arms shipments to this country via British military transport aircraft over the past few days.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova aludoy that when Ukraine and the West speak of a close Russian attack they intend to hide “organising their broad-scale provocations, including those of military nature”.

Russia seeks some security guarantees, including the permanent ban on Ukrainian membership in NATO, membership which Kiev aspires to, as well as the removal of most of the American military presence and Allied countries from Eastern Europe.

The United States and European partner countries say they are willing to consider the less dramatic gestures company, but that Russian demands cannot be laid down for discussion and that Mr. Putin knows they are irreplaceable. This itself serves as evidence of the motivation hidden by Mr. Putin, Secretary Blinken said.

Until now, our confidence-based gestures have been rejected, as this crisis does not really have to do primarily with weapons or military base”, he said. The “concerns the sovereignty and self-determination of Ukraine and other countries in the post-Soviet period. It's basically Russia's refusal to a post-Cold War Europe, which is full and free”.

Amid concerns that Mr. Putin will not be affected by the threats of sanctions and that an invasion will not be expected with the strong international response the United States believes it deserves, Secretary Blinken urged the Russian people to reject any possible intervention.

You deserve a life of security and dignity, like all peoples everywhere, and nobody's Ukraine, nor the United States, nor NATO countries are trying to put this thing at risk. But what really threatens your security, is a meaningless struggle with your neighbours in Ukraine, with all the costs accompanying him above all, for young people who will risk or give their lives for this”, Secretary Blinken said.

The United States and NATO allies face a difficult task with the crisis in Ukraine. President Biden said he is not intended to send combat units in case of a further invasion by Russia. But it may decide on a series of less dramatic yet dangerous military options, such as supporting a resistance after the invasion of Ukraine.

The logic of not being directly involved in a Russian-Ukrainian war is simple. The United States does not have any obligation stemming from any treaty with Ukraine, and a war with Russia would be an extraordinary risk. But even if it becomes less than necessary, it also carries risks. /voa