Washington: The United States does not believe Russia has decided to attack Ukraine but was prepared no matter which path needed, Jake Sullivan National Security Advisor said Thursday.
“We are also ready,” Sullivan told reporters after a week of talks between the United States, West and Russian allies.
“We are ready to make progress on the negotiation table …
and we are ready to take the necessary steps and deserve to maintain our allies, support our partners and respond strongly to every naked aggression that might occur.” Russia has collected tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine for demanding a guarantee that NATO would not expand the alliance to the east.
“The intelligence community has not made an assessment that Russia definitively decides to take military action in Ukraine,” said Sullivan.
“So as things stand up now, Russia has the opportunity to come to the table.” Russian representative of the Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who led the talks in Geneva along with the Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, in a Thursday interview did not rule out Moscow’s shipping forces to the Allies of Venezuela or diplomacy.
“I don’t want to confirm it …
or exclude it,” he said.
Sullivan said the statement of “bluster” and said Russia did not raise ideas in the discussion.
“If Russia moves in that direction, we will face it firmly,” Sullivan said.
The United States and the Soviet Union were later considered to have become the closest to the nuclear war in 1962 when Moscow mobilized ballistic missiles to Cuba, establishing crisis diplomacy.