The White House hosted a regular briefing by Biden's press secretary Jan Psaki. She explained the US position on the discovery of spontaneous burials of civilians in the Donbass, spoke about the return of Russian troops to their places of permanent deployment, and also indicated that Washington could support Navalny with sanctions against Putin's entourage.

Russian Troops

Psaki said that Washington still sees a threat in Russian troops on the border with Ukraine and continues to monitor the military.

“There is what Russia says and what it does. And we are watching very closely what steps she is taking,” the White House press secretary said, pointing to the “large number” of troops.

She recalled that the Joe Biden administration adheres to the position that Russia can “attack” Ukraine “at any moment.”

At the same time, the United States is not ready to admit that Russia is withdrawing its military to a permanent place of deployment, despite the video published by the Russian Ministry of Defense. “You refer to the video. But we are also seeing a build-up of forces on the border,” Psaki added.

On February 16 and 15, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that military personnel from the Western and Southern military districts (ZVO and SMD) were returning to their permanent locations after the exercises. In particular, armored vehicles are transported by rail. The military will have to overcome about a thousand kilometers. The Southern Military District previously clarified: the military is returning, including from exercises in the Crimea.

American President Joe Biden took the first statements about the deployment of Russian army units positively. But at the same time, he stressed that the US has not yet “verified” the accuracy of the data.

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Mass graves in Donbass

At a regular meeting with journalists at the White House, Psaki also answered the topical issue of initiating a criminal case of the Russian Investigative Committee because of the discovery of the graves of civilians who died during the intra-Ukrainian conflict.

Biden's spokesman claims the mass grave data could be disinformation. In her opinion, Russia can use "a fabricated pretext for an invasion."

“These may include, but are not limited to, the report you are talking about, allegations of provocations in the Donbass, false reports by state media,” she is sure.

Earlier, the Russian Investigative Committee announced the initiation of a criminal case under Part 1 of Art. 356 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - ill-treatment of the civilian population, the use in an armed conflict of means and methods prohibited by an international treaty.

In the fall of 2021, “five spontaneous mass graves were discovered” in several areas of the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass.

“Of these, the remains of at least 295 civilians who died as a result of indiscriminate shelling by Ukrainian armed forces in 2014 were exhumed. It is already known that among the remains there are bodies of women of different ages, ”the department’s website says.

In February, the head of the DPR, Denis Pushili, reported on more than 130 such graves found on the territory of the DPR.

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Psaki's other statements at the briefing

During a conversation with journalists, a representative of the US presidential administration also said that Washington will not put pressure on Ukraine or other states on joining NATO or refusing to do so.

During the briefing, she also drew attention to the fact that the US authorities are considering "a number of sanctions against close associates" of Russian President Vladimir Putin. So she answered the question of whether the United States could come out in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

bbabo.Net