U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday any movement of Russian troops across the Ukrainian border will be treated as “an invasion.”
Biden clarified confusion over earlier comments that a “minor incursion” by Russia could invite a lesser response.
He added that he had been “absolutely clear” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that any Russian aggression will be met with a “severe and coordinated economic response.
Biden said Moscow would not necessarily mount a standard invasion and that “we have to be ready.”
Russia has a long history of using paramilitary tactics, so-called gray-zone attacks, and covert actions by Russian soldiers not in uniform, Biden said.