The Russian expulsion of a senior diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was an “unprovoked” and escalatory move amid increasing tensions at the Ukrainian border, a White House spokeswoman said Thursday.
“Russia’s actions against our deputy chief of mission, who was a key member of the embassy’s leadership team, was unprovoked,” said White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “Now, more than ever, it is critical that our countries have the necessary diplomatic personnel in place to facilitate communication between our governments.”
RUSSIA EXPELS SENIOR DIPLOMAT FROM US EMBASSY AS WAR FEARS RISE
Jean-Pierre’s comments came during a question-and-answer session with reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Ohio, where President Joe Biden is scheduled to make a speech touting the bipartisan infrastructure plan. She was asked if Biden considered rescheduling the trip after he said the likelihood of a Russian invasion was “very high” and could happen within a matter of days.
“I don’t have any updates on any travel for the president,” she said. “As you know, a president deals with multiple things at one time. But as he has said, this is very high-risk. … We are in the window where we believe an attack could come at any time.”
Any attack would likely be preceded by a fabricated pretext, Jean-Pierre added, used as an excuse to launch the invasion.
“Russia relies on confusion and obfuscation to cover its attacks,” she said. “We would all expect it and be ready for it.”
A State Department spokesperson earlier confirmed that Russia expelled U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to Russia Bart Gorman.
Gorman was ordered to leave on the same day that Russia gave U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan a written response to the proposals for security talks that U.S. and NATO officials transmitted to Moscow last month. Those Western statements were themselves a response to the so-called “draft treaty” that Russia published in December, which called for a practical contraction of NATO at the expense of the countries that joined the alliance after gaining independence from the late Soviet Union.
Kremlin leaders said this week that Moscow intended to pull back some forces from Ukraine’s border and hoped to continue diplomacy efforts over the standoff, claims that U.S. officials have rebuked.
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“They have not moved any of their troops out. They’ve moved more troops in, No. 1,” Biden said Thursday morning. “Number two, we have reason to believe they are engaged in a false flag operation.”
Biden said there remains a diplomatic path forward but that this path appears increasingly unlikely.
