President Joe Biden said he believes his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, has decided to invade Ukraine within a week at the latest.
"At this point, I am convinced that he has made his decision," Biden said during a White House conference.
Biden stated that the buildup of Russian forces on his border intends to attack Ukraine "within the next week" or sooner.
“We have reason to believe that Russian forces are planning to attack Ukraine in the next week. In the next few days," Biden said.
The president highlighted that there is an increase in Russian disinformation that could be used as a pretext to invade Ukraine.
The president attributed this misinformation to separatist groups who have spread a false version that Ukraine attacked a Russian post to give Putin an excuse to invade.
"This is all consistent with the playbook that the Russians have used before," Biden said, meaning "the pretext scenario that the United States and our allies and partners have been warning about for weeks."
The president declared that "if Russia goes ahead with its plans, it will be responsible for a catastrophic and unnecessary war".
Biden said he believed the attack "will target the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million innocent people."
The president commented that he revealed the Russian plans not because the United States wants to go to war but to define responsibilities.
"Make no mistake, if Russia goes ahead with its plans, it will be responsible for a catastrophic and unnecessary war," the president said.
Meanwhile, the vice president, Kamala Harris, meets in Munich with military leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
