Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby on Sunday said Russia still has “diplomatic options left on the table” amid heightened fears that Moscow will invade Ukraine.
“If Russia does this, they do it with diplomatic options left on the table. They won’t have an excuse that merits any sort of credibility about why they went forward when there was a diplomatic path forward,” Kirby said while appearing on “Fox News Sunday.”
“They will choose this war and Mr. Putin will be responsible for the casualties and the suffering and the sacrifice the destruction that will result as a result of any single story,” he added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Last week, President Biden said that he was “convinced” that Russia was planning on invading the Ukraine.
Over the weekend, hundreds of artillery shells exploded along the contact lines between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists. Thousands of Ukrainians, many of whom have already been granted Russian citizenship, were evacuated to Russia.
Fox News Channel anchor Bill Hemmer noted on Sunday that Russia has recently made claims of mass civilian graves in the Donbass region of Ukraine as evidence of a genocide, sparking concerns that this may be used as a possible justification for invasion. Hemmer asked Kirby if the U.S. has seen any evidence to support these claims.
Kirby said Putin’s claims were “outrageous” and “absolutely right out of the Russian playbook.”
“He’s claiming that Ukraine, incredibly Ukraine, surrounded by more than 150,000 Russian troops is somehow going to attack Russia. I mean, these are just not credible,” said Kirby.