Biden warns of 'disaster for Russia' if they invade Ukraine

Kiev has been battling a pro-Moscow insurgency in two breakaway regions bordering Russia since 2014, when the Kremlin annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula

US President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House.

US President Joe Biden warned Russia Wednesday that it will pay a stiff price for a full-blown invasion of Ukraine, but sowed confusion by suggesting a "minor" incursion would prompt much less pushback from the West.

Biden said he did not believe that President Vladimir Putin wants a war, but said the Russian leader has created a situation that is proving extremely difficult to defuse -- and that could easily "get out of hand" in the region.

He said Putin could be planning "something significantly short of a significant invasion" to test the United States and NATO that would be met with a lesser pushback from the allies.

- 'Swift' and 'severe' -

"Joe Biden's impotence emboldened Vladimir Putin and now he just green-lighted Putin to invade Ukraine," tweeted Senator Tom Cotton.

"So if (Putin) only takes over parts of Ukraine our response will be less severe than if he takes it all?" he said on Twitter.

"If any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border, that's a renewed invasion, and it will be met with a swift, severe, and united response from the United States and our allies," said Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

Biden "affirmed today that those acts of Russian aggression will be met with a decisive, reciprocal, and united response," she said.

Biden was speaking ahead of a meeting on Friday in Geneva between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva.

With more than 100,000 troops and war-making machinery poised on Ukraine's borders, Moscow has sent alarms through the West over its threat to Kyiv.

"If they actually do what they're capable of doing with the force they've massed on the border, it is going to be a disaster for Russia," Biden told reporters.

- 'Room to work' -

And he opened the door for a new summit with his Russian counterpart.

"What I'm concerned about is this could get out of hand, very easily get out of hand, because of... the borders of Ukraine, and what Russia may or may not do," he said.

"Putin has, I know, a stark choice, either escalation or diplomacy," he said.

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