White House says it’s no longer calling potential Russian invasion of Ukraine ‘imminent’
CNN, MAXAR
By Kevin Liptak, CNN
The White House says it’s no longer describing a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine as “imminent,” suggesting the word sent an unintended message.
“I used that once. I think others have used that once. And then we stopped using it because I think it sent a message that we weren’t intending to send, which was that we knew President Putin had made a decision,” press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Last week, Psaki said an invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops continued to be “imminent,” a description that drew anger in Kyiv. Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, disagreed, and said the descriptions could cause panic and economic turmoil.
On Wednesday, Psaki said she’d only used the word once but wouldn’t going forward.
She said Biden’s decision to deploy 3,000 US troops to Eastern Europe had come after extensive consultation with allies but noted it was not sparked by a particular event over the past days.
And she downplayed the suggestion the deployment could be viewed as escalating tensions.
“What’s important to be very clear about here is there’s one aggressor here. That aggressor is Russia,” Psaki said.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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