Biden says U.S. troops won’t be sent to Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden ruled out sending U.S. troops to Ukraine to defend the country from a Russian invasion. He also said he will discuss Russia’s concerns regarding the country’s request for preventing North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s expansion. East European NATO allies are opposing the decision, saying that the U.S. is conceding to Russia.

“We hope by Friday we'll be able to announce to you that we're having meetings at a higher level, not just with us but with at least four major NATO allies and Russia,” President Biden said to correspondents on Wednesday. This came a day after the president warned strong economic and military sanctions against Russia during a video conference call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. president said the agenda of the high-level meeting is “to discuss the future of Russia's concerns relative to NATO writ large and whether or not we can work out any accommodations when it comes to bringing down the temperature along the eastern front.”

To a question asking if the deployment of ground troops is ruled out, President Biden said it’s “not on the table.” As Russia is opposing Ukraine to join NATO, the U.S. troops won’t be sent to Ukraine, which is not part of the organization.

Putin said during a press conference on Tuesday that Russia would submit parameters for the security talks to discuss the Ukraine issues to the United States within a week.

While the presidents of the U.S. and Russia emphasize diplomatic solutions, the East European members of NATO are expressing concerns that the U.S. is conceding to Russia’s request to stipulate the prevention of NATO’s expansion. According to The Financial Times, a high-ranking official of an East European member country of NATO said, “under no circumstances should the debate on guarantees in the context of European security be allowed to unfold.” Another official of a NATO member country said any talk of compromise with Moscow “must be immediately cut at the root.”

As the opposition of allies grows stronger, the White House is working to address their concerns. The White House said that President Biden will talk with the presidents of Ukraine and nine East European NATO member countries, including the Czech Republic and Estonia, on Thursday.


weappon@donga.com