Putin on Monday ordered troops to two rebel held areas of Ukraine to "maintain peace" after he recognized those provinces as independent. had about 160 National Guard troops in Ukraine advising the country's military, but Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered their withdrawal amid signs of an imminent Russian invasion. has already spent billions of dollars to help Ukraine build up its military defenses. What: Russia-Ukraine explained: Inside the crisis as US, allies await next move The U.S., in turn, wants to keep Russian aggression in check while working to strengthen a struggling democracy that has become more closely aligned with the West. The conflict is rooted in Putin’s desire to reestablish the influence that Russia wielded under the Soviet empire, foreign policy experts say. officials believe could be the most consequential military conflict since World War II.Īnd it underscores, in stark terms, why Americans should care about the fate of an eastern European nation that’s roughly the size of Texas and is known for golden sunflowers, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and being the spark for President Donald Trump's first impeachment saga. 13 phone call with Vladimir Putin, highlighted the grim assessment of what U.S.
"Foreign efforts to influence or interfere with our elections are a direct threat to the fabric of our democracy," he said.WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden warned his Russian counterpart earlier this month that an invasion of Ukraine would cause "widespread human suffering," as he and European allies scrambled to stave off a war in Europe.īiden's remarks, made in a Feb. Reminded that it was his own intelligence agency that issued the warning, he responded: "Well, I don't care what anybody says."Įvanina, the top intelligence official monitoring threats to the election, gave no details on the outside interference.Ī strong hacking and social media campaign by Russia in 2016 is credited by US intelligence with helping Trump to victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump dismissed the warning that Russia wanted him to see him re-elected, claiming that no US leader has been tougher on Moscow than him. "This is consistent with Moscow's public criticism of him when he was vice president for his role in the Obama administration's policies on Ukraine and its support for the anti-Putin opposition inside Russia," he said. "Russia is using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former vice president Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia 'establishment,'" Evanina said. "They would dream, they would own our country."Įvanina said Iran is using social media disinformation to divide the country and hurt Trump, while Russia is meddling to damage the campaign of his Democratic opponent Joe Biden. "China would love us to have an election where Donald Trump lost to sleepy Joe Biden," he told journalists. Trump enthusiastically agreed with the warning, which cast him as a threat to Beijing.
"Beijing recognizes that all of these efforts might affect the presidential race," Evanina said. He pointed to China's criticism of Trump's handling of the coronavirus epidemic, of the US closure of China's Houston consulate, and of the US administration's stances on Chinese actions in Hong Kong and the South China Sea. "China has been expanding its influence efforts ahead of November 2020 to shape the policy environment in the United States, pressure political figures it views as opposed to China's interests, and deflect and counter criticism of China," Evanina said in a statement.
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