Russia will face 'severe consequences' if it chooses to walk away from diplomacy, attack Ukraine: Biden on UNSC meeting

The United States and its allies are ready to engage with Russia in good faith if the latter is sincere about addressing their security concerns, President Joe Biden said on Monday, adding, "If the country chooses to walk away from diplomacy and attack Ukraine, Moscow will face swift and severe consequences."

In a White House statement on Monday, the US President informed that America presented in detail the full nature of Russia's threat to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"And we made clear to the international community the full implications of that threat -- not just for Ukraine, but for core tenets of the UN Charter and the modern international order," he said.

"If Russia is sincere about addressing our respective security concerns through dialogue, the United States and our Allies and partners will continue to engage in good faith. If instead Russia chooses to walk away from diplomacy and attack Ukraine, Russia will bear the responsibility, and it will face swift and severe consequences," Biden further said in the statement.

He said that the US and its allies continue to prepare for every scenario.

"The world must be clear-eyed about the actions Russia is threatening and ready to respond to the risks those actions present to all of us. Today's Security Council meeting is a critical step in rallying the world to speak out in one voice: rejecting the use of force, calling for military de-escalation, supporting diplomacy as the best path forward, and demanding accountability from every member state to refrain from military aggression against its neighbours," Biden said.

In recent developments, the head of states and governments of France, Germany, Ukraine and met on January 26 in Paris under the Normandy format and called for an unconditional ceasefire in the Donbas region of Ukraine.

The officials reaffirmed that the Minsk agreements signed in 2014 are the basis of the work of the Normandy format, the four-party diplomatic group which was set up to resolve the conflict in the Donbas region.

The UNSC meeting on the Ukraine conflict was held today with Norway chairing the Security Council.

( With inputs from ANI )

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