President Biden spoke with Russian President Putin for an hour on Saturday, as predictions of a Russian invasion of Ukraine are being called imminent. The State Department has evacuated all but the most essential personnel from Kyiv. NBC News writes:
Biden told Putin that the U.S. and its allies and partners “will respond decisively and impose swift and severe costs” should Moscow move on its neighbor, the White House said.
Biden also reiterated that a Russian invasion would produce “widespread human suffering and diminish Russia’s standing” in the world, the White House said, adding that Biden was “clear with President Putin that while the United States remains prepared to engage in diplomacy, in full coordination with our allies and partners, we are equally prepared for other scenarios.”
The U.S. is also trying to beat Putin at his own game of psychological warfare. The New York Times writes:
In recent weeks, the Biden administration has detailed the movement of Russian special operation forces to Ukraine’s borders, exposed a Russian plan to create a video of a faked atrocity as a pretext for an invasion, outlined Moscow’s war plans, warned that an invasion would result in possibly thousands of deaths and hinted that Russian officers had doubts about Mr. Putin.
Then, on Friday, Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, told reporters at the White House that the United States was seeing signs of Russian escalation and that there was a “credible prospect” of immediate military action. Other officials said the announcement was prompted by new intelligence that signaled an invasion could begin as soon as Wednesday.