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world news Diaranson 8 December 2021

Biden to warn Putin of economic pain if he invades Ukraine

(AP) — President Joe from the Situation Room, darker moments for former
Biden is ready to warn Putin from his residence in President Barack Obama on
Vladimir Putin during a Sochi — is expected to be one the international stage —
video call Tuesday that of the toughest of Biden’s looms large as Biden looks at
Russia will face econo- presidency and comes at a the current smoldering crisis.
my-jarring sanctions if perilous time. U.S. intel-
it invades neighboring ligence officials have de- The eastward expansion of
Ukraine as Biden seeks termined that Russia has NATO has from the start
a diplomatic solution to massed 70,000 troops near been a bone of contention
deal with the tens of thou- the Ukraine border and has not just with Moscow but
sands of Russian troops made preparations for a pos- also in Washington. In 1996,
massed near the Ukraine sible invasion early next year. when President Bill Clin-
border. ton’s national security team
In a statement released just debated the timing of mem-
Biden aims to make clear hours before the leaders’ vid- bership invitations to former
that his administration stands eo call, Ukrainian authorities Soviet allies Poland, Hungary
ready to take actions against charged that Russia is send- and the Czech Republic, De-
the Kremlin that would exact ing tanks and snipers to war- fense Secretary William Perry won’t rule it out. has an opportunity to set the
“a very real cost” on the Rus- torn eastern Ukraine to “pro- urged delay to keep Rus- tone when he speaks with
sian economy, according to voke return fire.” Ukraine’s sian relations on track. Perry In Washington, Republicans Putin.”
White House officials. Putin, Defense Ministry alleged that wrote in his memoir that are framing this moment as a
for his part, is expected to de- Russia is holding “training when he lost the internal de- key test of Biden’s leadership Trump, who showed unusual
mand guarantees from Biden camps under the leadership bate he considered resigning. on the global stage. deference to Putin during his
that the NATO military al- of regular servicemen of the presidency, said in a News-
liance will never expand to Russian Armed Forces.” The Poland, Hungary and the Biden vowed as a candidate max interview on Monday
include Ukraine, which has Kremlin hasn’t commented Czech Republic were for- to reassert American leader- that the Biden-Putin conver-
long sought membership. on the allegations. mally invited in 1997 and ship after President Don- sation would not be a “fair
That’s a non-starter for the joined in 1999. They were ald Trump’s emphasis on match,” describing it as tanta-
Americans and their NATO The U.S. has not determined followed in 2004 by Bulgaria, an “America first” foreign mount to the six-time Super
allies. whether Putin has made a fi- Romania, Slovakia, Slove- policy. But Biden has faced Bowl champion New Eng-
nal decision to invade. Still, nia and the former Soviet fierce criticism from Re- land Patriots facing a high
“We’ve consulted significant- Biden intends to make clear states of Estonia, Latvia and publicans who say that he’s school football team.
ly with our allies and believe to the Russian leader that Lithuania. Since then, Al- been ineffective in slowing
we have a path forward that there will be a “very real cost” bania, Croatia, Montenegro Iran’s march toward becom- Ahead of the Putin call, Biden
would impose significant should Russia proceed with and North Macedonia have ing a nuclear power and that on Monday spoke with lead-
and severe harm on the Rus- military action, according to a joined, bringing NATO’s to- the Biden administration has ers of the United Kingdom,
sian economy,” White House senior administration official tal to 30 nations. done too little to counter au- France, Germany and Italy
press secretary Jen Psaki said who briefed reporters on the tocratic leaders like China’s to coordinate messaging and
Monday in previewing the condition of anonymity. A key principle of the NATO Xi Jinping, Iran’s Ayatollah potential sanctions.
meeting. “You can call that a alliance is that member- Ali Khamenei and Putin.
threat. You can call that a fact. Biden was vice president in ship is open to any qualify- The White House said in a
You can call that preparation. 2014 when Russian troops ing country. And no outsider “Fellow authoritarians in statement that the leaders
You can call it whatever you marched into the Black has membership veto power. Beijing and Tehran will be called on Russia to “de-esca-
want to call it.” Sea peninsula of Crimea While there’s little prospect watching how the free world late tensions” and agreed that
and annexed the territory that Ukraine would be invit- responds,” said Senate Mi- diplomacy “is the only way
The leader-to-leader con- from Ukraine. Aides say the ed into the alliance anytime nority Leader Mitch McCo- forward to resolve the con-
versation — Biden speaking Crimea episode — one of the soon, the U.S. and its allies nnell. “And President Biden flict.”

Motorcycle bombing in southern Iraqi city of Basra kills 4

exploded, quickly blaming militants “Daesh is trying to destabilize secu-
from the Islamic State group. rity in Basra, but it will not be suc-
cessful,” Al-Idani said after inspecting
There was no immediate claim of the damage from the blast, using the
responsibility for the morning attack Arabic acronym for the Islamic State
near a major hospital, which shook group.
residents of the city.
Aided by a U.S.-led coalition and
Iraq’s Security Media Cell, an outlet Iran-backed armed group, Iraq de-
affiliated with the country’s security clared victory over IS in late 2017.
forces, said in a statement that four The group had seized two-thirds of
people were killed and four were the country in 2014, declaring a self-
wounded as a result of the fire in two styled Islamic caliphate. However, IS
cars that were near the motorcycle. continues to carry out sporadic at-
tacks, often targeting security forces,
It said forensics teams were at the through sleeper cells it maintains,
scene of the blast and that more de- particularly in the north.
tails would be released on the nature
of the explosion, once investigations There has also been an increase in
were completed. political instability in Iraq follow-
ing the Oct. 10 parliament elections
(AP) — A motorcycle rigged with Explosions have been rare in the which saw Shiite cleric Muqtada al-
explosives went off in the center The blast set ablaze two other ve- oil-rich, predominantly Shiite Basra Sadr emerge as the biggest winner.
of Iraq’s southern city of Basra on hicles and sent a column of black region in recent years, particularly Shiite armed factions loyal to Iran
Tuesday, killing at least four peo- smoke into the sky. The governor of since the defeat of the Sunni militant which lost around two thirds of their
ple and wounding four others, ac- Basra, Asaad al-Idani, told reporters Islamic State group in 2017. parliamentary seats have rejected the
cording to Iraqi security forces. on the scene that a motorcycle had results of the election, alleging fraud.