‘Russia ready to invade Ukraine’, says Joe Biden

The White House has sought to hose down concerns Joe Biden accidentally increased the chance of war, after the US President predicted Vladimir Putin would invade Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday (AEDT). Picture: AFP

The White House on Thursday sought to hose down concerns Joe Biden accidentally increased the chance of war, after the US President predicted Vladimir Putin would invade Ukraine and conceded NATO members might split over how to respond.

“Stunned” Ukrainian leaders watched Mr Biden’s marathon press conference at the White House “with horror”, according to CNN’s senior correspondent in Kiev, reflecting surprise among foreign policy experts at the President’s candid and potential fateful analysis.

Speaking for nearly two hours, Mr Biden said he “guessed” that Russian President Vladimir Putin would “move in” on Ukraine, adding, however, that a “minor incursion” wouldn’t necessarily elicit a response from NATO.

“It depends on what it (Russia) does; it’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and we end up having to fight about what to do and not to do,” he said, suggesting stripping Russia of the ability to trade in US dollars was on the table.

“He’s never seen sanctions like the one I’ve promised will be imposed if he moves,” Mr Biden said of Mr Putin, whom he didn’t think wanted “full-blown war”.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued a statement within an hour afterwards, saying Mr Biden had meant that cyber and paramilitary attacks on Ukraine would be met with a “decisive, reciprocal, and united response”.

“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 US and our allies,” she said.

Former president Donald Trump said Mr Biden’s remarks were “very unusual”. “I’m not sure he knew what he was saying. He was confused. The whole thing was just horrible,” Mr Trump said on US radio just after his successor’s second solo press conference since he took office last January.

The President’s remarks came at a delicate time in negotiations within NATO over the future of Ukraine, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken has just left en route to Geneva on Friday to meet with the Russian foreign minister to try to thrash out an agreement.

“There are differences in NATO as to what countries are willing to do, depending on what happens,” Mr Biden said.

Russian military forces arrived in Belarus after Moscow-allied strongman Alexander Lukashenko announced on Monday that the two countries would conduct military exercises next month.

The move, which came without the notice customarily provided to countries in the region, added to rising tensions over Ukraine, which borders Belarus.

In his wide-ranging press conference to kick of the second year of his presidency, Mr Biden defended his administration’s record in the wake of a series of poor polls for Democrats and the President himself, saying he had “outperformed” and made “enormous progress”. “For all this progress, I know there’s a lot of frustration and fatigue in this country. We know why – Covid-19,” he said, promising not to return to lockdowns and school closures.

Mr Biden said his Build Back Better reforms, a set of sweeping welfare, climate change and health reforms that failed to pass the Senate last year, would be broken up into smaller legislative pieces.

On inflation, which has been above 5 per cent for six months in a row, Mr Biden said the “critical job in making sure that the elevated prices don’t become entrenched rests with the Federal Reserve” and promised to crack down on big companies that were exercising monopoly power.

Mr Biden, 79, confirmed his vice-president Kamala Harris, 57, would be his running mate at the next presidential election in 2024, following speculation she would be replaced. “I’m going to be deeply involved in these off-year elections,” he said.