Biden and Macron Discuss Russian Troop Buildup: Ukraine Update
U.S. gave the green light to plans to move more troops to Europe and dispatch soldiers stationed on the continent further east.
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. gave the green light to plans to move more troops to Europe and dispatch soldiers already stationed on the continent further east as it seeks to send a stronger military message alongside its diplomatic efforts with Russia over Ukraine.
About 2,000 soldiers will travel from the U.S. to Europe in the coming days, while 1,000 troops based in Germany will be deployed in Romania, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing. The moves are temporary, he added.
Russia quickly criticized the decision. Moscow has decried the presence of North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops near Russian borders and called for the alliance to withdraw its forces to positions they occupied in 1997, before it expanded into former Warsaw Pact countries.
The troop movements come as Western officials have warned of punishing economic sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine, which the Kremlin denies it plans to do.
Key Developments:
- What We Know So Far About Potential U.S.-EU Sanctions on Russia
- Where military forces are assembling around Russia and Ukraine
- Why Russia-Ukraine Tensions Are So Hard to Defuse: QuickTake
- A Journey Across Ukraine Shows Invasion Would Come at High Price
- Europe Faces Harsh Reality of Finding Russian Gas Irreplaceable
All times CET
Biden, Macron Discuss Crisis in Call (2:10 a.m.)
President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke on Wednesday evening about Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s borders, the White House said.
The two leaders, according to a White House account of the call, “affirmed their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and reviewed our ongoing coordination on both diplomacy and preparations to impose swift and severe economic costs on Russia should it further invade Ukraine.”
Biden and Macron also pledged that their teams would remain “in close touch” on the Ukraine crisis.
Germany’s Scholz Says He’ll Meet With Putin (9:15 p.m.)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he’ll meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow “soon” for talks over tensions related to Ukraine.
Speaking in an interview with broadcaster ZDF late Wednesday, Scholz, who is due to visit Washington Monday for talks with President Joe Biden, said that the buildup of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border underscored the importance of sending a clear message that any military attack threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine would carry a “very high price.”
The new German leader rejected comments that Berlin hasn’t done enough to help Ukraine, saying “our allies know precisely” what Germany is doing. It has provided the most aid to Ukraine in recent years, he said, citing almost 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) funneled to stabilize Ukraine’s economic independence and “to help them stand on their own two feet.”
Biden Says Troop Movement ‘Totally Consistent’ (8:45 p.m.)
Biden told reporters that the U.S. dispatch of additional troops to eastern Europe is “totally consistent with what I told Putin in the beginning: As long as he is acting aggressively we’re going to make sure we can reassure our NATO allies and Eastern Europe that we’re there.”
Biden said the mutual defense pledge for NATO members “is a sacred obligation.” Ukraine isn’t a NATO member, although it aspires to become one over Putin’s objections, and the U.S. said it won’t send its forces into the country.
While Russia denounced the mobilization of American forces as destructive, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters that “until and unless we see a de-escalation” of Russian forces on Ukraine’s borders, “it is only prudent for us to continue to take steps in the direction of defense and deterrence.”
U.S.-Russia Rift Could Spark $100 Oil, Yergin Says (7:45 p.m.)
Further escalation in U.S.-Russia tensions over Ukraine could send oil prices to $100 a barrel as the rift between the two oil-producing world powers would widen, according to oil historian Daniel Yergin.
Increased tension could trigger “a panicky reaction in the market,” Yergin said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power With David Westin.”
U.K. Says Johnson, Putin Agree to Seek Peaceful Solution (7:22 p.m.)
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to seek a “peaceful resolution” to the current tensions over Ukraine when they spoke by phone on Wednesday, according to a readout of the call emailed by Johnson’s office.
It said Johnson warned Putin that any incursion into Ukrainian territory would be a “tragic miscalculation” and that he told the Russian leader it’s Ukraine’s right as a European democracy to aspire to NATO membership.
“The leaders agreed that aggravation was in no one’s interest,” according to the statement. No mention was made in the readout of the U.K. deployment of fighter jets earlier on Wednesday to intercept and escort four Russian bomber aircraft approaching its area of interest.
Macron, Urging De-Escalation, Says He’ll Be Calling Biden (7:18 p.m.)
Emmanuel Macron plans to hold a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden, the French president told reporters in Tourcoing, France.
Macron called the situation at the Russian-Ukraine border worrisome, but said dialogue and de-escalation were a priority. Macron, who started his term five years ago promoting a renewed partnership with Russia, added that he wasn’t excluding a trip to Moscow.
Russia Blasts U.S. Troop Movement As Destructive (5:50 p.m.)
Russia denounced the U.S. decision to move more forces to Eastern Europe, warning it could complicate diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis.
“These unjustified, destructive steps increase military tensions and narrow the space for political solutions,” Interfax quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as saying.
U.S. Moving Troops to Bolster Allies in Europe (4:40 p.m.)
About 1,700 troops from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, are going to Poland, Pentagon spokesman Kirby said at a briefing, part of a broader movement of 3,000 troops. The 82nd Airborne Division is deploying components of an infantry brigade combat team in the coming days to Poland, and the 18th Airborne Corps is moving a joint task force-capable headquarters to Germany, Kirby added.
No troops will be sent to Ukraine and the move isn’t permanent but a reaction to events on the ground, according to Kirby. He said the troops will remain under U.S. rather than NATO command and that the goal is to ensure “that NATO’s eastern flank” is properly defended.
Romania’s president tweeted that he welcomed a deployment to his country.
U.S. Asks Asian Importers About Gas for Europe (3:30 p.m.)
The U.S. and its European allies have approached several major natural-gas importers in Asia, including China, about sending their fuel to Europe if a conflict over Ukraine erupts, according to people familiar with the matter.
President Joe Biden’s administration has spoken to officials in Japan, South Korea and India as well as Beijing, said the people. The engagement with China has been limited, two of the people said.
European and U.S. officials are concerned Moscow may react to any additional sanctions against it in the event of a war by reducing gas flows to Europe, which gets around 40% of its supplies from Russia.
U.K. Launches Fighters to Intercept Russian Planes (3:25 p.m.)
The U.K. said it deployed Typhoon fighter jets Wednesday from a base in Scotland and escorted four Russian bomber aircraft. Britain has frequently sent quick-response jets in response to Russian military planes that transit international airspace within its area of interest, but the latest intercept comes as tensions have escalated with Moscow over Ukraine.
The move comes ahead of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans to speak later Wednesday with Putin.
Putin and Xi See ‘New Era,’ Kremlin Says (2 p.m.)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping plan to issue a joint statement declaring a “new era” in international relations and on their views on “the most important issues, including security issues” at a summit this week, according to a top Kremlin adviser.
Beijing supports Moscow’s demand for security guarantees from the U.S. and NATO, foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow.
The Feb. 4 summit ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing will be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders in more than two years, as Russia and China deepen their political, military and economic ties to counter the West on the global stage.
Xi called Putin an “old friend” when they spoke in December, while the Russian leader hailed their “responsible joint approach to solving urgent global issues.”
‘No Daylight’ Between NATO Members 1:20 p.m.
There is “no daylight” between Slovenia and the U.K. in regards to their position on Ukraine, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said at a press conference following a meeting with Slovenian Defense Minister Matej Tonin in Ljubljana.
“It is of key importance that NATO sends a clear message to Putin that the price of war is too high,” Tonin said. “More aggression by Russia means more armed forces on eastern borders.”
Slovenia won’t send weapons to Ukraine, but wants to send more soldiers to NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group in Latvia, he said.
Western Guarantees Stabilize Hryvnia (12:05 p.m.)
Financial guarantees from Ukraine’s western partners helped to calm the country’s markets and stabilize the currency, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told reporters at a joint briefing in Kyiv with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
“This was a signal for markets and for investors that Europe believes in Ukraine, believes in a stable situation, believes in our market and our banking system,” Zelenskiy said.
Crisis Keeps Gas Traders on Edge (11:50 a.m.)
European gas prices turned higher after three days of declines as traders were kept in the dark about when Russian shipments to Germany through a major transit route will resume, increasing supply concerns.
Gazprom PJSC booked pipeline capacity to ship gas to Germany via the Yamal-Europe link late on Tuesday, signaling a possible restart of flows that have been halted since Dec. 21.
The German grid operator sowed confusion Wednesday morning when it posted data showing tiny shipments into the Mallnow compressor station on the border with Poland, before deleting the entry. Russia gas shipments through Ukraine are also edging lower.
Austrian Bank Stashes Funds for Fallout (9:00 a.m.)
Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International AG became the first large European lender to say it’s setting aside money to deal with the potential fallout from the crisis.
The bank has made forward-looking provisions for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, and increased currency hedging in the second half of last year to limit consequences for its key capital ratio and is assessing the likelihood of sanctions on individual customers.
“Our banks in Russia and Ukraine are in good shape,” Chief Executive Officer Johann Strobl said in a statement. “Business is running normally despite the geopolitical tensions. Nevertheless, we are monitoring developments very closely.”
U.S. Dangles Offer to Russia on Missile Checks (8:26 a.m.)
The U.S. has told the Kremlin it is willing to discuss giving Russia a way to verify there aren’t offensive cruise missiles at sensitive NATO missile-defense bases in Romania and Poland, according to people familiar with the matter.
The proposal seeks to allay Moscow’s concerns the launchers could be used to target Russia, and would require reciprocal checks at some Russian bases housing ground-launched weapons.
While there are no offensive missiles, such as ground-launched Tomahawks, at the sites in Poland and Romania, Putin has repeatedly suggested the U.S. and NATO could use the Aegis Ashore missile-defense systems to fire Tomahawks, because both kinds of weapons use the same launchers.
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