The White House is distancing itself from its previous assessment that Russia poses an “imminent” threat to Ukraine.
Press secretary Jen Psaki contended she and her administration colleagues had deployed the descriptor “once” regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans in neighboring Ukraine.
“Then we stopped using it because I think it sent a message that we weren’t intending to send, which was that we knew that President Putin had made a decision,” she told reporters Wednesday.
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Psaki repeated that the U.S. intelligence community still has not determined whether Putin will invade Ukraine as he amasses upward of 100,000 troops along their shared border.
The White House’s pivot comes after public disagreement with Ukraine over the prospect of conflict with Russia but coincides with Biden ordering 1,000 service members from the U.S. Army’s Second Cavalry Regiment to be repositioned from Germany to Romania. Another 1,700 personnel will be sent from North Carolina’s Fort Bragg to Poland and 300 from Fort Bragg to Germany.
“This has been under discussion for some time now with our NATO partners and within the administration,” Psaki added.
Psaki was asked as recently as Friday whether there had been any change in the White House’s “imminent” evaluation.
“Well, I would say that we have said since last week that we have seen preparations and buildup at the border and that an invasion could come at any time. Our assessment has not changed since that point,” she said.
Psaki also used Wednesday’s briefing to criticize Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who had earlier slammed the administration for “putting more Americans in danger in Europe when our signal threat is China.”
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“If you are just digesting Russian misinformation and parroting Russian talking points, you are not aligned with long-standing bipartisan American values, which is to stand up for the sovereignty of countries like Ukraine,” she said.
