U.S. VP Harris will meet Ukraine’s Zelenskiy, urge Putin to pull back By Reuters

By Nandita Bose

MUNICH (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is anticipated to satisfy Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy in Munich on Saturday, in what’s more likely to be a strong show of diplomatic assist for the European nation, a day after President Joe Biden stated he’s “satisfied” Russia had decided to invade Ukraine.

Harris may also ship a extremely anticipated deal with warning Russia that an invasion would probably result in an excellent greater NATO footprint on its doorstep and that it’ll face large monetary prices if it invades Ukraine, in response to a senior U.S. administration official who spoke to reporters on the situation of anonymity.

Her message will, nonetheless, clarify the US stays open to diplomacy “even at this late hour,” the official stated, whilst Biden and different administration officers have given dire warnings that the window for diplomacy is slim.

On Friday, Harris met NATO Secretary Basic Jens Stoltenberg and leaders from three Baltic nations and stated Russia should present it’s open to diplomacy, whereas heralding unity within the 30-member NATO alliance and warning Moscow of extreme penalties if it invades Ukraine.

President Biden, who spoke later within the day, stated Putin has determined to invade Ukraine, and that he continues to unfold false data to attempt to construct a pretext for a navy strike that would occur in days.

Russia, which has stated it has no plans to invade, desires to cease Kyiv from becoming a member of NATO and accuses the West of hysteria. On Friday, separatists backed by Moscow informed civilians to go away breakaway areas on buses, a transfer the West fears is a part of a pretext for an assault.

The Russian protection ministry stated on Friday that Putin would oversee workouts by Russia’s nuclear forces involving the launch of ballistic and cruise missiles. The senior U.S. administration official referred to as the choice “escalatory and unlucky.”

Requested if the US is worried about whether or not Zelenskiy ought to journey to Munich for conferences tomorrow, the senior administration official stated, “No. That is actually his name. It is actually as much as him to determine the place he must be.”

Biden, when requested the identical query, stated “that is a judgment for him to make.”

Zelenskiy has lengthy stated that, whereas he believes Russia is threatening to assault his nation, the chance of an imminent invasion has been overstated by Western allies, responding to Moscow’s efforts to intimidate Ukraine and sow panic.