Vice President Kamala Harris vowed on Saturday that there would be a “swift, stern and united” response if Russia invaded Ukraine in a highly anticipated speech at the Security Conference in Munich, Germany.
Harris set out retaliatory measures befitting her previous career as a prosecutor, promising “significant and unprecedented” economic costs.
With the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine reaching boiling point, Harris took center stage Saturday morning in front of a large international audience as he delivered the keynote address at the security conference.
The remarks came at a high-risk moment, following repeated warnings from the United States on Friday about Russia’s efforts to invade Ukraine.
The vice president’s emphasis on Russia-Ukraine tensions is a continuation of various US efforts to publicize Russia’s aggressive actions in the region and try to prevent the country from invading Ukraine under false pretenses.
In a statement at the White House on Friday, President Joe Biden said he is convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the decision to invade Ukraine, adding that the US believes Russian forces intend to attack Ukraine “in the next week” or before – and that an attack will target the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.
It was a major rhetorical shift for Biden, who had previously indicated he believed Putin had yet to make up his mind about an invasion. Still, Biden stressed on Friday, there was room for diplomacy.
A senior administration official told reporters ahead of Harris’ comments that he would make it clear the US would be ready for any outcome.
“We are warning the world about what we are afraid of and seeing from the Russians these provocations, which we fear they could use as a pretext to invade Ukraine and in the last few hours or days, unfortunately,” the official said.
Russian disinformation is turning into a false justification for Putin to order an invasion, Biden said, accusing Russia of ceasefire violations in a “rapidly escalating crisis”.
On Friday, the White House also blamed Russia for a massive cyber attack on Ukraine earlier in the week and warned that Russia could face extensive sanctions if it invades its neighboring country. Daleep Singh, deputy national security adviser for the international economy and deputy director of the National Economic Council. , called the sanctions the “severest measures we have ever contemplated against Russia”.
The senior US official also said that Harris plans to meet after the speech with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and will also hold some informal meetings, called “pull sides”with other leaders.
Despite the US assessment of an imminent invasion of Ukraine, Biden said on Friday that it is up to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to decide whether to attend this weekend’s security conference in Germany.
The official previewing the vice president’s plans for the weekend said the decision “is really his. It’s up to him to decide where he needs to be.”
Asked specifically if they were concerned, the official said categorically, “No.”
Allie Malloy of CNN contributed to this story.
Source: CNN Brasil
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