Ukraine Biden does not rule out imposing sanctions on Putin and a French-German threat to Russia to pay a heavy price if it invades Kiev

Russian military forces arrived in Belarus to participate in exercises from February 10 to 20, while Washington warned Minsk against using its territory as a launching pad for the invasion of Kiev, and President Biden did not rule out imposing sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that he was forced to deploy his country's forces on the border with Ukraine because of the security situation there, and that the upcoming joint exercises with Russia will help identify sites for the deployment of more Belarusian forces on the border with Ukraine, considering that the situation there is no better than it is on the The border with Poland, and that the maneuvers will take place on the western and southern borders of his country.

Lukashenko added that hundreds of cases of arms smuggling were prevented, only one of them from Russia, and all weapons and ammunition were coming from Ukraine.

American holiday

On the other hand, the US State Department said that in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory from Belarus, or the permanent stationing of Russian forces on its territory, NATO may have to reassess the status of its forces on the borders of Belarus.

She added that she had made it clear to Belarus that if it allowed its territory to be used to launch an attack on Ukraine, it would face a swift and decisive response from the United States and its allies. The US State Department also stressed the need for Russia to take steps to prove that dialogue and diplomacy are still available.

US President Joe Biden has not ruled out imposing sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin if Russia invades Ukraine.

Biden said there was no intention of deploying US or NATO forces in Ukraine, but that he might consider imposing sanctions on President Putin himself if he invaded Ukraine.

Washington had said that it had not yet taken a decision to send advanced defense systems to Europe and was discussing with its NATO allies their needs, amid an escalating state of tension between Russia and the West over the Ukrainian crisis.

Washington also announced its readiness to impose economic sanctions on Russia in the field of oil and gas if it decided to invade Ukraine.

In a telephone briefing to the White House, a US official said that Washington is seeking, in coordination with its partners, to find alternatives to Russian gas in Europe, given the shortage in supply.

The US official revealed discussions that the US administration is conducting with a number of gas companies and gas exporting countries in the world, including Qatar, noting that the discussions on supplying gas to Europe are general and not specific to a specific country.

Yesterday, a plane carrying US military equipment and ammunition landed in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, loaded with the third shipment of a US security aid package worth $200 million to support Ukraine.

The US administration allocated more than $650 million in security assistance to Ukraine last year, in addition to a total of more than $2.7 billion since 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.

Earlier, the US Department of Defense announced that 8,500 US soldiers were placed on high alert, in preparation for the deployment of numbers of them within NATO forces if Russia invaded Ukraine.

On the other hand, the Russian authorities expressed concern about the US decision, and launched military exercises in southern Crimea, which it said were aimed at verifying the combat readiness of its forces.

Ukrainian mobilization

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army kept its forces in advanced positions on the front of the eastern Donbass region, with a high degree of readiness, in anticipation of any possible military development.

For his part, the President of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in southeastern Ukraine, Denis Pushilin, told Al Jazeera that Ukraine has mobilized more than 120,000 soldiers of its forces near the line of contact in the Donbass region.

The President of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, added that his forces do not rule out a military escalation by Kiev towards it.

He wondered the reason behind the deployment of these numbers of Ukrainian forces in that region, while the borders between Russia and Ukraine are wider than the borders of the Donbass region and are formed from other regions.

Quad meeting

On the other hand, talks will be held in the French capital, today, Wednesday, including Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany at the level of diplomatic advisors within the framework of the Normandy formula entrusted with supervising the implementation of the Minsk peace agreements.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron said during a joint press conference in Berlin yesterday that Russia will pay a heavy price if it attacks Ukraine, and demanded that Moscow de-escalate.

They noted that they were continuing to try to find diplomatic solutions, but Macron said they were "preparing patterns of reaction" if Moscow took aggressive steps.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said any military intervention in Ukraine would have serious consequences.

Schultz added, during the press conference, that his country wants to return to negotiations on the Normandy formula to get out of the Ukrainian impasse.

Schultz defended Germany's refusal to send equipment to Ukraine, and stated that Germany does not send weapons abroad for historical reasons, in reference to the country's role in World War II.

For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Russia would pay a very heavy price if it invaded Ukraine.

Macron added that in the event of any aggression against Ukraine, the response will be present, and the cost of this response will be high, as he put it, noting that all channels of communication with Russia must be used to obtain guarantees regarding the security of Europe.

Macron said that he will speak by phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin next Friday morning to request clarification on the situation on Ukraine, Bloomberg News Agency reported on Tuesday.

In turn, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Germany to reduce dependence on Russian gas due to the tense situation between Russia and Ukraine.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss had earlier called on Germany to stop the Nord Stream 2 project between Russia and Germany in the event of an escalation.

Johnson responded to a question from a member of the British House of Commons, saying that the fact that Germany is more dependent on Russian gas than Britain should be respected.

"Their sacrifice will be somewhat greater, but we must hope that they will make this sacrifice for the sake of peace," he added, referring to the Germans, stressing that Germany's role in this conflict is absolutely decisive.

White House: Biden will receive the Emir of Qatar next Monday in Washington

The White House stated that US President Joe Biden is looking forward to welcoming the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to the White House next Monday.

The White House added that the visit provides an opportunity for President Biden and the Emir of Qatar to consult on regional and international issues of common interest.

He explained that Biden and the Emir of Qatar will discuss supporting the Afghan people and enhancing trade and investment cooperation between Washington and Doha, and that Biden will thank Sheikh Tamim for what the White House described as Qatar's exceptional and continuous efforts to ensure safe passage for Americans and others from Afghanistan.

The White House also confirmed that President Biden looks forward to Sheikh Tamim's important visit, and stresses the strong partnership between the United States and Qatar.

He added that Biden and the Emir of Qatar will also discuss ensuring the security and stability of global energy supplies.

An American desire and an Iranian hint, Are there direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran in Vienna?

Tehran - US statements about Washington's readiness to hold direct talks with Tehran were accepted by Iranian politicians, who responded that they would not ignore that option, if the Vienna negotiations made progress that would allow the initiation of such a step.

A former member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Mansour Haqqatpour, said that reaching an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program is close, and that direct negotiations between the Iranian and American sides will accelerate the pace of consensus in Vienna.

Although the Iranian government spokesman, Ali Bahadori Jahromi, denied that any negotiations were held between the Iranian and American negotiating teams in the Austrian capital, the Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani revealed that communication with the American delegation has been through the exchange of indirect messages so far. .

In his tweet on Twitter, Shamkhani indicated that there is no need to develop channels of communication with Washington further, adding, "Other methods can only be tested - instead of this communication method - when a good agreement is at hand."

This was also preceded by the comment of Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Hossein Abdollahian, who said that his country would not ignore the option of negotiating with the United States if the Vienna negotiations reached a stage that would lead to the achievement of a tight agreement.

Iranian observers see the Iranian-American direct negotiations, which were held for the first time during the era of former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, as a positive factor that proved his ability to overcome many obstacles that have been stuck since the victory of the Iranian revolution, which culminated in the signing of the nuclear agreement in 2015.

Important development

The director of the Arab Center for Iranian Studies, Muhammad Salih Sedqian, considered the Iranian response to the American desire to conduct direct negotiations an “important development in the Iranian dialect,” adding that this desire needs preparations similar to what former US President Barack Obama did when the Iranian guide Ali Khamenei opened his intentions which paved the way for negotiations that reached the nuclear agreement.

While Seddian expressed his belief that he still believed in "the importance of this magical step to address the problems between the two sides," he quoted - in another tweet on Twitter - sources about "the possibility of holding a direct meeting between the foreign ministers of Iran and America if the Vienna negotiations reach an encouraging result, and he is alive." 2015 agreement.

Barriers to negotiation

On the other hand, Hadi Afqi, a researcher in strategic affairs, believes that there is a major impediment to holding direct negotiations with the US side, which is Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear agreement.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Afqi considered that the Iranian hint of the possibility of direct negotiation was conditional, because sitting at a direct negotiating table with Washington would mean Tehran's acceptance of the US sanctions it imposed after violating the nuclear agreement.

He added that another reason that prevented direct negotiations with America is the lack of trust between the two parties, stressing that Tehran may accept direct negotiations if its national interest requires it.

Afqi concluded that possible negotiations with the American delegation would be "at the level of experts" in the event the United States fully returns to the nuclear agreement and takes confidence-building steps; Including lifting sanctions, releasing detained Iranian funds, and providing guarantees that its withdrawal from the agreement will not be repeated.

Imminent agreement

For his part, the former member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Mansour Haqqatpour, believes that reaching an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program is close, and that direct negotiations between his country and the United States will accelerate the pace of consensus in Vienna.

Referring to the direct negotiations between the foreign ministers of Iran and the United States that culminated in the signing of the 2015 nuclear agreement, Bohr confirmed in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, that there is no objection to direct negotiations with the Americans in Iran's policy.

He explained that his country had negotiated indirectly with the American side more than once through the European mediator, which Tehran considers an unfair party to the nuclear agreement, stressing that direct negotiations outside the scope of the six-party group will reduce distances and bring views closer, in preparation for Washington's return to the nuclear agreement. .

Haqiqatpour expected direct negotiations between Iran and the United States during the next stage, describing the chances of sitting at the negotiating table as being high.