The US won’t go to war with Russia in Ukraine but will defend NATO territory, if necessary, US President Joe Biden said in a speech about Ukraine at the White House on Friday.
“We will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine,” he said. “Direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III – something we must strive to prevent.”
“We are going to continue to stand together with our allies in Europe and send unmistakable message: we’ll defend every single inch of NATO territory with the full might of united and galvanized NATO,” Biden said.
He declined to say if Washington has evidence corroborating statements by some Western countries that there’s a risk of Russia using chemical weapons in Ukraine.
“I’m not going to speak about the intelligence but Russia would pay a severe price if it used chemical weapons,” the US president said, according to Russian News Agency, TASS.
The Washington Times’ report also has it that the American President declined to join the war in Ukraine by sending troops in confrontation with Russian armed forces fighting there, neither would NATO do so.’
Additionally, the report said, “The idea that we are going to send offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews — don’t kid yourself, no matter what you all say — that’s called World War III,” he told a gathering of Democrats in Philadelphia. “Let’s get it straight here, guys.”
Mr. Biden and other NATO leaders have declared repeatedly that they will not send military forces into Ukraine to fight the Russian army, despite their support for Kyiv in the war.
Mr. Biden has deployed thousands of troops to eastern European countries near Ukraine before and during the invasion to reassure NATO allies and assist with the refugee crisis.
The U.S. and NATO have provided Ukraine — which is not a member of the Western military alliance — with arms, including anti-tank weapons such as Javelin missiles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Western nations about joining the two-week-old war in Ukraine, hinting darkly that the Kremlin might resort to nuclear war against countries that try to intervene.
TASS/Washington Times
