Biden warns of “world war” whilst Truss says Rostov and Voronezh are not Russian

USA/RUSSIA/UK: President Joe Biden called for American citizens in Ukraine to leave the country as soon as possible after revealing the potential for a “world war” and warning that “things could go crazy quickly” between the US and Russia. Biden’s bombastic rhetoric was preceded by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meeting with British Secretary of State Liz Truss, where she embarrassed herself by failing to grasp the basic geography of the region. The Anglo escalation is part of their effort to derail dialogue between Moscow and the two European Union powerhouses of France and Germany to overcome the Ukraine crisis.

“American citizens should leave now,” Biden said in an interview with NBC News on February 10. “It’s not like we’re dealing with a terrorist organization. We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. It’s a very different situation, and things could go crazy quickly.”

When asked what could prompt his order to send troops to Ukraine, Biden said: “There’s not. That’s a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another. We’re in a very different world than we’ve ever been.” The American president also sent a message to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, saying that if he “is foolish enough to come in, he’s smart enough to actually do nothing that could negatively impact American citizens.”

Tensions between Washington and Moscow are at their highest point since the Cold War, especially as the West manufactures an “impending Russian invasion of Ukraine” narrative. This manufactured crisis is being used as a pretext to send more NATO military equipment to Russia’s borders as the Kiev government seeks to conquer the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine instead of finding a peaceful solution.

However, the West still remains deeply divided about escalating tensions in Ukraine, mostly between the Anglo Alliance (US, UK and Australia, or AUKUS) and EU members France and Germany. Even their manner of engagement with Moscow points to stark differences, with the French and Germans taking the matter seriously, whilst Truss seemingly has little knowledge of geography. This is what triggered Lavrov to say in a press conference following his meeting with Truss on February 10: “It’s like they’re listening to us but not hearing.”

Britain’s top diplomat demanded Russian soldiers to withdraw from the border with Ukraine, prompting Lavrov to reiterate that they are stationed within their own sovereign territory and Russia has the right to conduct such maneuvers.

According to Russian media, Lavrov questioned whether London recognizes Moscow’s sovereignty over the Rostov and Voronezh Oblasts, in which Truss replied: “[the UK] will never recognize Russia’s sovereignty over these regions.” British Ambassador to Moscow Deborah Bronnert had to embarrassingly intervene and remind Truss that the two oblasts are actually considered Russian territory by London and are not claimed by any other country, including Ukraine.

This embarrassment follows on from Truss saying on January 30 that “we are supplying and offering extra support to our Baltic allies across the Black Sea” – the Baltics and the Black Sea are on the opposite sides of Europe to each other.

The Anglo Alliance demonstrates that their collective effort to provoke Moscow is disjointed, but none-the-less united behind the common propaganda that the Russian military is on the verge of invading Ukraine. Although Biden was certainly harsher in his tone towards Moscow and created hysteria by using buzzwords like “world war” and warning that things “can go crazy quickly”, he none-the-less managed to embarrass himself like Truss on February 10 by saying: “there is no way we were ever going to unite Ukraine — I mean, excuse me, Iraq… Afghanistan.”

Given that Biden said this on the same day that Truss revealed she did not know the differences between the Russian Oblasts of Rostov and Voronezh and the Donbass People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine, it was an embarrassing day for Anglo diplomacy. The dangerous language used though, especially from Biden, threatens to undermine the recent work of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The German and French leaders are critical of Russia, but unlike AUKUS, they still seek genuine dialogue to resolve the Ukraine impasse to avoid war on the continent.

It is for this reason that Brandon Weichert, a former US congressional staffer and geopolitical expert, warned that Germany and France would surely “[throw] the Americans under the bus, which they will because Paris thinks that would weaken America’s unwanted hold over European affairs.” Biden’s threats of “world war”, as well as Truss struggling to grasp the basic geography of a region that she berates Moscow about, highlights that the Anglo Alliance is only becoming increasingly desperate in maintaining tensions and instability as the Europeans attempt to find a solution.