President Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. hasn’t verified Russia’s claims that it pulled back some troops from threatening Ukraine, but he said he’s hopeful that a flurry of diplomacy will avert war.
In a televised address at the White House, Mr. Biden said a Russian invasion “is still very much a possibility.”
“The Russian defense minister reported today that some military units are leaving their positions near Ukraine,” Mr. Biden said. “That would be good, but we have not yet verified that. We have not yet verified the Russian military units are returning to their home bases.”
Rather, he said, U.S. analysts “indicate that they remain very much in a threatening position.”
The president said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in a phone call on Saturday that “we should give diplomacy every chance to succeed.”
Mr. Putin said Tuesday that he welcomed a security dialogue with the West as his military reported pulling back some of its troops near Ukraine, signals that may indicate the Kremlin has opted for a diplomatic path despite Western fears of an imminent Russian invasion of its neighbor.
The Russian leader said he doesn’t want war and would rely on negotiations. He pressed his demand for the West to halt Ukraine’s bid to join NATO. But he also didn’t commit to a full pullback of troops, saying Russia’s next moves in the standoff will depend on how the situation evolves.
Ukraine Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter of the reported Russian pullback: “We in Ukraine have a rule: we don’t believe what we hear, we believe what we see. If a real withdrawal follows these statements, we will believe in the beginning of a real de-escalation.”
Mr. Biden, asserting there are still 150,000 Russian troops along the Ukraine border, said the U.S. has put on the negotiating table “concrete ideas to establish a security environment in Europe.”
“We’re proposing new arms control measures, new transparency measures, new strategic stability measures,” Mr. Biden said. “These measures would apply to all parties, NATO and Russia alike. We’re willing to make practical result-oriented steps that can advance our common security.”
But he added, “We will not sacrifice basic principles.”
“Nations have a right to sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the president said. “They have the freedom to set their own course and choose with whom they will associate. But that still leaves plenty of room for diplomacy and for de-escalation. That’s the best way forward for all parties in our view.”
The president said as long as there is the hope of a diplomatic resolution “that prevents the use of force and avoids incredible human suffering that would follow, we will pursue it.”
“To the citizens of Russia, you are not our enemy,” the president said. “The United States and NATO are not a threat to Russia. Ukraine is not threatening Russia. Neither the U.S. nor NATO have missiles in Ukraine. We do not have plans to put them there.”
• This article is based in part on wire-service reports.