The US president had said at a news conference that he was convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made the decision to invade Ukraine and that although there was still room for diplomacy, he expected Russia to act in the coming days.
“We have reason to believe that Russian forces are planning and intending to attack Ukraine next week, in the coming days,” Biden said, adding that the United States believed Russia would target the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
On the other hand, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned in a television interview broadcast on Saturday evening that “all indications are that Russia intends to launch a full-blown attack” on Ukraine.
“We all agree that the risk of an attack is very high,” Stoltenberg added in his interview with the German “ARD” channel.“.
On the other hand, the European Union expressed its concern about what it considered intensive efforts to manipulate information aimed at supporting fabricated excuses to justify a possible military escalation in Ukraine.
“The European Union is deeply concerned that orchestrated events could be used as a pretext for a possible military escalation,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
He pointed out that the federation “notes an intensification of efforts to manipulate information to support such goals.”
The warning came as Russian state media published unverified reports of violence in eastern Ukraine, an area partly controlled by pro-Russian rebels.
Russian media accuse Kiev of planning an attack on the rebel enclave in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
“The European Union sees no basis for the allegations from the non-government-controlled Donetsk and Lugansk regions about a possible Ukrainian attack,” Borrell said.
He defended the “key role” of the monitors deployed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Ukraine to verify what is happening on the ground, welcoming “Ukraine’s moderate position in the face of continuous provocations and efforts to destabilize.”
The European Union and the United States are convinced that Moscow is looking for a pretext to attack Ukraine by using violent incidents on the ground and spreading incorrect information.