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Pentagon spokesman John Kirby spoke to reporters Friday about U.S. military plans to help Ukraine as Russian troops continue to advance across the country.
One reporter asked Kirby if U.S. intelligence offered Russian President Vladimir Putin would stop its advance with Ukraine. Some European countries are concerned that the Russian president’s election campaign may continue beyond the war-torn country.
“It is not clear whether Mr Putin has projects outside of Ukraine,” Kirby said. “And because it’s not entirely clear, we continue to look for ways to strengthen our NATO capabilities and reassure our allies. I mean, one of the reasons we’re doing this is that we want to make it clear. that we will defend every inch of NATO territory. ”
RUSSIAN GUIDANCE TO UKRAINE: RENEWAL IN LIVE
“I think there is no reason now for this to be a war,” Kirby told reporters about the possibility of a full-scale armed conflict between NATO and Russia. “And this should not have happened. Mr Putin had diplomatic options, which he chose to ignore, evade and invade Ukraine regardless. So there should be no reason for war to break out.”
Kirby, however, warned that because Putin’s war against Ukraine was already under way, it was crucial for the United States to make it clear to the Russians that they would defend “every inch of NATO territory.”
“We need to make sure – and we will make sure – that it is very clear that we are going to defend every inch of NATO territory,” Kirby repeated. “I am not going to think about what the future holds, because it is not clear where Mr. Putin is going. We want to make it clear that he will not be able to threaten our NATO allies in any way. “
Humanitarian Center for Refugees Arriving from Ukraine at the Moldovan-Ukrainian Border, in Palanka, Moldova, Friday, February 25, 2022. Thousands of Ukrainians are fleeing the war, crossing their borders in the west in search of security. They left their country when Russia carried out air strikes on their capital and other cities on Friday. At some border crossings, cars were involved for several miles as authorities in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova mobilized to receive them, offering them shelter, food and legal assistance.
(AP Photo / Aurel Obreja)
The White House Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Biden’s White House had not “permanently ruled out diplomacy” with Russia amid the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
During a daily press briefing at the White House on Friday, Psaki said the United States would not completely repel the Eastern European aggressor “forever.”
The Ukrainian military stands near the destroyed house near the frontline settlement of the Crimean Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, February 19, 2022.
(AP Photo / Vadim Girda)
The dogs also asked why President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are not talking.
“Because (Putin’s) invasion of a sovereign country,” she replied.
“I would say that the moment when the leader starts in the middle of the invasion of a sovereign country is not the moment when diplomacy feels appropriate,” Psaki added.
“That doesn’t mean we haven’t ruled out diplomacy forever. Obviously, the president remains open to interaction at the leader-to-leader level, but that’s not the point.”
Psaki also said that the United States “is not in the normal mode” against the background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Psaki also confirmed that the United States will join the European Union in sanctions against the President of Russia Vladimir Putin personally about the invasion of Ukraine.
Houston Keane of Fox News contributed to this report.