The United States believes that Putin is looking for excuses to invade Ukraine
The Russian president believes that there would be a war if Ukraine joins NATO.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby has stated that Putin's threats, given the likelihood of Ukraine joining NATO, are part of a series of Russian strategies to have reasons to invade Ukraine.
Putin would have offered a press conference where he warned that if Ukraine entered NATO, it could generate a war between NATO and Russia for control of Crimea.
John Kirby stressed that Putin's speech is only a Russian strategy to misinform and mislead, as well as to generate excuses and commit an invasion on Ukrainian territory.
The Pentagon spokesman stressed that it is only Ukraine's decision with whom it forges alliances, as it is a sovereign state. He added that it is not Putin's decision, much less does he have the power to force a veto under threats of war.
Kirby pointed out that there have been intentions in the past to negotiate, together with Russia, the necessary reforms for the defense of the region. He assured that the United States is part of that process that is still ongoing.
The dialogue
Russia and the United States rejoined the dialogue process, which has only served to ratify their political differences, the only novelty being Putin's pronouncement on the conflict with Ukraine. Putin has not spoken publicly since last December.
The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, had an early morning telephone conversation, in which both representatives presented their position.
Blinken demanded Russia to initiate a ceasefire to lower tensions on the Ukrainian border, reiterating the decision of the United States to continue the dialogue process.
On the other hand, Lavrov rebuked the United States for its "war speech " and sending weapons to Ukrainian soldiers, and also demanded that NATO's deployment in Eastern Europe not continue.
After the meeting, Blinken posted on his Twitter account that "if President Putin really does not seek war or regime change then it is time for the troops and heavy weapons to be withdrawn."
Russia has labeled the West's reactions as "hysterical and alarmist", as Russia has repeatedly indicated that it has no intention of invading Ukraine, according to statements.
However, the United States has denounced that Russia is preparing an invasion against Ukraine, since it has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukrainian territory.
The U.S. Defense Department spokesman, gave a press conference on Tuesday where he pointed out that Russia had increased its military force and logistics in recent weeks, where he highlighted medical personnel for his troops. He stressed that Russia is currently fully capable of advancing to Ukraine.
On the other hand, this Tuesday there was a telephone meeting where Blinken, the representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrel, the president of the Organization for Security in Europe, Zbigniew Rau and the secretary general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg spoke.
During the meeting, all parties expressed their determination to protect Europe, in addition to keeping the Atlantic front united, according to the statement issued by the State Department.
Vladimir Putin
In recent months, where all the parties involved had issued statements and threats, Putin had not declared publicly. The Russian president broke silence from Moscow for the first time since late last year, warning that the United States and NATO had ignored Russia's security demands.
These security demands include a halt to NATO expansion, the non-admission of Ukraine to the alliance and a halt to military cooperation with former Soviet territories.
Putin has stressed that the doors for dialogue are open, but demanded that Russia's demands regarding European security that they have made to the Alliance and to the United States must be taken into account.
Putin insisted that a way must be found to guarantee the security and interests of all those involved, including Ukraine and Russia.
The United States ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, last week delivered the written response issued by the United States where he expressed the rejection of almost all of Russia's security demands, where they also called for dialogue and to find a way out of the crisis due to the diplomatic channels.