President Joe Biden has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States will get involved if the Russians move into North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) territories.
After his statement, the Pentagon deployed 7,000 personnel and hardware to Germany. Biden also put a new round of sanctions on Russia and promised that the country will bear the consequences of Putin's aggression against Ukraine.
However, Biden said American forces will not engage with Russian troops and that the forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine. Rather, they will be there to defend NATO allies should Russia expand its attacks. "As I made crystal clear, the United States will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of American power," Biden said.
As Biden delivered his remarks in the United States, Ukraine's government in Kyiv reported mounting casualties as the Russian forces attacked from the east, north and south.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy already called on Ukrainians to take up arms in self-defense. In a televised broadcast, he said they are giving away weapons and will continue to do so to anyone who will ask for it to protect their sovereignty. "Our future depends on each and every citizen," he said.
Officials noted that their forces already lost control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, raising fears of Russian troops disturbing the radioactive material.
Biden also said the U.S. is now working with other nations on releasing oil from global strategic reserves to control the rapidly rising prices. The cost of a barrel of the international crude benchmark, Brent, shot above $105 after Russia launched its assault. (Related: Russia-Ukraine crisis will put even more strain on the global food supply, driving up prices of wheat and corn around the world.)
"We are actively working with countries around the world to elevate collective release from the strategic petroleum reserves of major energy-consuming countries," Biden said. He added that the U.S. will be releasing additional barrels of oil as conditions allow, especially considering that Americans are already hurting from the ongoing inflation.
Biden said Russia's aggression cannot go unanswered because the consequences for America would be much worse.
The Ukraine invasion is Putin's latest attempt to redraw the map of Europe and up-end world order since the Cold War. This is also expected to be the bloodiest conflict in Europe since the end of World War II.
Stop the new Hitler or there will be a Third World War
Anton Herashchenko, Ukraine's interior ministry adviser, said the world has a "new geopolitical reality."
"Either Ukraine and the world will stop the new Hitler now, or there will be a Third World War," he said. (Related: Russia warns Ukraine of full-scale conflict along the country's eastern border.)
Western leaders have already lined up to condemn Russia's actions and security councils have convened to mount a response. Heavy sanctions followed, and more shipments of military equipment to Ukraine are expected if they can find a route into the country.
However, the U.S. and NATO have made it clear that no troops will be sent, and Ukraine is expected to hold off the assault alone.
NATO is expected to focus its efforts on stopping the war from spilling over into neighboring countries, especially considering that member country Poland shares an extensive land border with Ukraine.
Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which are also NATO members, fear a Russian assault.
Moldova, where some Russian ground troops are already based, is also at risk of falling. From there, the Russian military could strike out at Romania, which is another former Soviet state.
After weeks of denying plans to invade, Putin justified the attacks in a televised address, asserting that Russia needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine. The U.S. previously predicted that he would use this false claim as a pretext for an invasion.
Putin also accused the U.S. and its allies of ignoring Russia's demands to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO. He said Russia does not intend to occupy Ukraine, but is moving to "demilitarize" it and bring those who committed crimes to justice.
The Russian Defense Ministry said they were not targeting cities, claiming that there's no threat to the civilian population at this time.
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