With a Russian invasion of Ukraine seeming more likely by the hour, the White House insisted Friday that the door to diplomacy remains open.
Russian troops at the Ukraine border now could number as many as 190,000, with an invasion potentially occurring within days. But White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the United States is still ready to negotiate.
WHITE HOUSE: RUSSIA CARRIED OUT CYBERATTACKS AGAINST UKRAINIAN MILITARY AND CENTRAL BANKS
“They of course could change their mind, or they could decide to — and we are going to keep the door to diplomacy open,” Psaki said. “As we should. But again, there’s no new assessment.”
President Joe Biden will remain hunkered down at the White House this weekend, marking just the second weekend of the year he’s spent in Washington, D.C.
Biden’s last weekend in town was the final weekend in January. He and first lady Jill Biden attended a National Governors Association dinner at the historic home of George Washington in Mount Vernon, Virginia, that occurred on Jan. 30.
Ukraine reported Wednesday that its Ministry of Defense had been the target of a cyberattack, which it blamed on Russia.
“According to an investigation by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, the first data suggests that the attack was carried out by the Russian Federation,” a statement from the Ukrainian Information Policy Ministry reads. “This is not the first time or even the second time that Ukrainian Internet resources have been attacked since the beginning of the Russian military aggression.“
Also on Friday, the Biden administration accused the Russian government for the first time of carrying out a series of cyberattacks against Ukrainian targets.
Deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology Anne Neuberger and deputy national security adviser and Deputy NEC Director Daleep Singh made the announcement at Friday’s White House press briefing.
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Psaki and principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre both cautioned the press in recent days to be aware of Russia’s attempts to sow “confusion and obfuscation” ahead of a potential attack.
“An attack could come at any time,” Jean-Pierre told reporters traveling with Biden to Ohio on Thursday. “We believe it’s important that the world be watching for that pretext and that people treat any such claims with the appropriate skepticism, especially when they come from Russian state media sources.”
