White House says Putin’s decision to put nuclear forces on high alert is 'unprovoked' and fits a pattern
Russia has manufactured threat to justify offensive actions, Biden administration claims
Russia has manufactured threat to justify offensive actions, Biden administration claims
The White House described Moscow’s action as "yet another escalatory and totally unnecessary step"
White House has termed Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to put Russia's nuclear deterrence forces on high alert, is part of a wider pattern of unprovoked escalation and “manufactured threats” from the Kremlin.
"This is really a pattern that we've seen from President Putin through the course of this conflict, which is manufacturing threats that don't exist in order to justify further aggression -- and the global community and the American people should look at it through that prism," press secretary Jen Psaki Psaki told ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
CNN quoted a senior administration official saying Sunday that Putin's move was "yet another escalatory and totally unnecessary step."
"At every step of this conflict Putin has manufactured threats to justify more aggressive actions -- he was never under threat fromUkraine or from NATO, which is a defensive alliance that will not fight in Ukraine," the official said.
Ukraine’s stiff resistance
"The only reason his forces face a threat today is because they invaded a sovereign country, and one without nuclear weapons. This is yet another escalatory and totally unnecessary step," the White House said.
Putin's threat came after Ukraine’s stiff resistance to Moscow's assault on Ukraine, now in its fourth day.
"Top officials in leading NATO countries have allowed themselves to make aggressive comments about our country, therefore I hereby order the Minister of Defense and the chief of the General Staff to place the Russian Army Deterrence Force on combat alert," Putin said in a televised meeting with top Russian defense officials.
CBS News said US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield cast Putin's actions as unnecessarily escalatory, and that he "is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable."
Holding Putin accountable
"We have to continue to condemn his actions in ... the strongest possible way," she said. "Putin has tried every means possible to actually put fear in the world in terms of his action, and it just means that we have to ramp up our efforts here at the United Nations and elsewhere to hold him accountable."
CNN’s Dan Bash reported that Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova cast Putin's move as "one more example of the terrorist behavior of Russia." Bash said on Sunday’s "State of the Union" that Russian forces "attacked our country, they are scaring everyone."
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called Putin's allegations against NATO "dangerous rhetoric," adding that "this is a behavior which is irresponsible," according to the CNN database.
"The new statements from President Putin just added to the very aggressive rhetoric we have seen from Russia for many months, and especially the last couple of weeks, where they are not only threatening Ukraine, but also threatening NATO allied countries," he told Bash earlier on the same program.