BackWhen US warned Ukraine in advance about Russian invasion but…
The United States had raised the alarm over Russia's preparations for an invasion of Ukraine well before Putin announced the ‘special operation’ against the country on February 24.
PremiumUS President Joe Biden on Friday that his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky "didn't want to hear" American warnings ahead of Russia's invasion of his country. "I know a lot of people thought I was exaggerating," Biden said at a fundraising reception in Los Angeles, referring to his forewarning of the possibility of a Russian attack.
"But I knew we had data to sustain (the assessment)," he added in front of reporters.
"(Russian President Vladimir Putin) was gonna go into the border. And there was no doubt, and Zelensky didn't want to hear it, nor did a lot of people. I understand why they didn't want to hear it, but he went in."
The United States began raising the alarm over Russia's preparations for an invasion of Ukraine well before Putin announced the "special operation" against the country on February 24.
The warnings were met with disbelief and even veiled criticism from some European allies, who at the time felt the United States was being too alarmist.
President Joe Biden also cautioned that U.S. inflation could last "for a while" after data on Friday showed that politically sensitive price pressures unexpectedly accelerated in recent weeks.
"We're gonna live with this inflation for a while," Biden said at a Democratic fundraising event in Beverly Hills. "It's gonna come down gradually, but we're going to live with it for a while."
“Global inflationary pressures — were made worse by Putin’s brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine — are making it harder for families to make ends meet," the US president said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has pleaded to Western countries for faster deliveries of weapons as better-armed Russian forces pounded the east of the country, and for humanitarian support to combat growing outbreaks of deadly disease.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he terms his "special military operation" in Ukraine in February, saying his aim was to disarm and "denazify" Russia's neighbour. Kyiv and its allies call it an unprovoked war of aggression to capture territory.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday reinforced Washington's commitment to the region in light of Russia's actions.
"Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is what happens when oppressors trample the rules that protect us all," Austin told an Asian security forum in Singapore. "It's a preview of a possible world of chaos and turmoil that none of us would want to live in."
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