President Biden made it clear during a press conference held on Friday afternoon that he believes Putin has already made up his mind about Russia invading Ukraine.
When asked directly, "Do you have any indication about whether Pres. Putin has made a decision on whether to invade?" Biden didn't hesitate to answer "As of this moment I'm convinced he's made the decision. We have reason to believe that."
Watch the ask and answer:
"Do you have any indication about whether Pres. Putin has made a decision on whether to invade?"
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 18, 2022
Pres. Biden: "As of this moment I'm convinced he's made the decision. We have reason to believe that." https://t.co/Su59PbbRAG pic.twitter.com/H2R0BWZ4zq
Related: NATO-shmato! Here's the diplomatic solution: Red-state America can join Putin's CSTO
"We have reason to believe the Russian forces are planning to, intend to, attack Ukraine in the coming week, in the coming days," said Biden during the press conference held in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. "We believe that they will target Ukraine's capital Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million innocent people."
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In The New York Times coverage of the press conference they point out that Biden was the most direct this afternoon in terms of how close he believes we are to seeing a war between Russia and Ukraine. Although the threat of this seems realer than ever, Biden believes there's still hope for de-escalation.
"It is not too late to de escalate and return to the negotiating table," Mr. Biden said, referring to planned talks between Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Russia's foreign minister have agreed to talks next Wednesday. "If Russia takes military action before that day, it will be clear that they have slammed the door shut on diplomacy."
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