Biden says the US hasn't verified Russian claims that troops are returning to their home bases, but analysts continue to see a threat in the 150k troops "encircling" #Ukraine.
@POTUS Biden reiterating that #NATO is a defensive alliance.
"If Russia attacks Ukraine it would be a war of choice. A war without cause or reason."
"The truth matters. Accountability matters."
@POTUS "The world will not forget that Russia chose death and destruction....[it would] be a self-inflicted wound."
@POTUS Biden states unequivocally that "if Russia further invades Ukraine [NordStream 2] will not happen."
@POTUS "The United States will defend every inch of *NATO* territory," Biden says, but reiterates that he will not send US soldiers to Ukraine.
@POTUS Biden notes that the punishing sanctions his administration plans if Russia further invades Ukraine that energy prices could climb, but that the administration is taking steps to ameliorate this.
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1⃣ Despite the Russian MOD & RT's assurances, we've not yet seen evidence that Russian troops stationed near Ukraine's border are moving away from it. (1/)
@Cen4infoRes 2⃣ In fact, new military camps continue to be built at the 🇷🇺 border with 🇺🇦, including the build-up of several military field hospitals in different areas of Belarus and Crimea, as well as stationing large amounts of Russian helicopters 30 kilometres from the border. (2/)
3⃣ As @CITeam_en note in their report, there has been Russian naval activity in the Bosphorus this week that would allow Russia to attempt an amphibious landing around either Odessa on the Black Sea or Mariupol on the Azov Sea in the case of a Russian invasion. (4/)
82 years ago this week, my grandfather, aged 10, was deported along with his family from present day Ukraine (then Poland) to a Soviet work camp.
In part because of his deportation, I’m sitting on Twitter tonight, writing about current Russian threats to the same land. (1/)
My family was deported because they were Polish (my ethnic Ukrainian blood is on the other side of the family); Poles like them, who had moved East in the interwar period thanks to land grants from the Polish govt, were an impediment to Soviet influence expanding Westward. (2/)
So they were packed into cattle cars and shipped north and east. My family ended up in a work camp near the Arctic Circle. One of my great aunts, Teresa, who I apparently resemble, died of TB and is buried in an unmarked grave there. One day I hope to locate it. (3/)
For those who don't know the preorder schpeal: it really helps authors, sending a signal to bookshops, reviewers, and media about which books are worth covering. It'd mean the world if you preordered this book for yourself or someone in your life who might need or enjoy it.
I'm growing increasingly frustrated with the out of touch, abstracted discourse about Ukraine..
I lived and worked in Ukraine. I have Ukrainian heritage. And while that gives me some insight to the situation, it's not about me. It's about 40+ million Ukrainians. 🧵
It's about pensioners like this woman @ColborneMichael & I spoke to in Kryivih Rih in 2019, who was selling in the rain tulips at 11 cents each to make ends meet. Her government pension barely covered her apartment.
She was looking forward to making her voice heard in the upcoming election. (Her oblast, Zelensky's own, voted overwhelmingly for Ze.)
The Kremlin—which has repeatedly decried the legitimacy of two consecutive Ukrainian governments—would deny her that right.
This isn't new. Lethal aid is a distinct term from military aid—which can come in the form of training, for instance—and other types of aid (humanitarian, economic, democracy support).
This isn't some sort of massive conspiracy... just a somewhat jargony term in the aid biz.