President Joe Biden says he had to cut short his trip to Ohio due to weather concerns and the stand-off between Russia and Ukraine.
While concluding his remarks, Biden said, “The reason they tell me I’ve got to head out, I hadn’t planned on going immediately, is because of weather going back to Washington and there’s a little thing going on in Europe right now.”
Laughter could be heard in the audience after his mention of the situation in Europe.
Watch the video below:
President Biden concludes remarks in Ohio: "The reason they tell me I've got to head out, I hadn't planned on going immediately, is because of weather going back to Washington and there's a little thing going on in Europe right now." pic.twitter.com/muJ4mUkpsg
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 17, 2022
Earlier on Thursday, Biden was asked, “How high is the threat of a Russian invasion right now?”
“It’s very high,” he responded.
He explained that Russia has not pulled troops back from near Ukraine’s border despite its claims and has instead continued its troop build-up. He also said the U.S. believes Russia is “engaged in a false flag operation to have an excuse to go in.”
“Every indication we have is that they are prepared to go into Ukraine. Attack Ukraine,” Biden added.
Finally, he said his “sense” is that an invasion will occur “in the next several days.”
Earlier this week, Russian claimed it was pulling back some troops, which appeared to offer a glimmer of hope that an attack could be averted.
However, Secretary of State Antony Blinken denied that Russia had decreased its troop presence on Wednesday and instead said it had added about 7,000 more troops to its build-up. Additionally, satellite images showed the construction of a military pontoon bridge in Belarus, just four miles from the Ukrainian border.
And Ukrainian forces were reportedly responding to artillery fire from Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country.
During a meeting of the United Nations Security Council Thursday, Blinken said the U.S. believes Russia is planning to manufacture” a pretext to attack Ukraine.
