Germany’s foreign minister and Ukraine’s president cancel meeting due to differences on Russia, source says
As he departed his joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President Biden reaffirmed his belief that Russia could pursue a diplomatic off-ramp amid ongoing military buildup on the Ukraine border.
“The answer is yes,” Biden said as he walked out of the room when asked whether he still believed Russia could de-escalate with 100,000 Russian troops at the border.
He did not respond to a follow up question on how that could be accomplished.
The Biden administration continues to pursue de-escalation through diplomatic channels.
“We believe that there is a very distinct possibility that Vladimir Putin will order an attack on Ukraine. It could take a number of different forms. It could happen as soon as tomorrow or it could take some weeks. Yet he has put himself in a position with military deployments to be able to act aggressively against Ukraine at any time now,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC News Sunday.
He added, “Or Russia could choose to take the diplomatic path instead, the key thing is that the United States needs to be and is prepared for any of those contingencies in lockstep with our allies and partners.”
But as CNN reported earlier Monday, the diplomatic path is narrower than ever.
“We are in Hail Mary territory,” a US official said.
Meanwhile in Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin had sharply critical words for NATO and Ukraine in a news conference following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Moscow, but suggested that “further steps” were possible on the diplomatic front after the French leader heads to Kyiv on Tuesday.
“A number of his proposals and ideas, about which it is too early to speak, I consider quite possible in order to lay a foundation for our further steps,” Putin said. “Let’s see how the meetings for the president [Macron] will go in Kyiv. After his trip to Ukraine, we will call each other again and exchange views on this matter.”
CNN’s Nathan Hodge and Uliana Pavlova contributed reporting to this post.
