This could include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. Last month, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned that the situation at the border with Russia was seriously deteriorating, with fears that Moscow could plan another military incursion. President Biden spoke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European leaders ahead of a meeting with Mr Putin to discuss Russia's behavior towards Ukraine. The White House said that Western leaders shared concern about the Russian military build-up on Ukraine's borders and Russia's increasingly harsh rhetoric Downing Street said that Mr Johnson promised the UK would continue to use all the economic and diplomatic tools at its disposal to prevent Russian aggression against Ukraine. Some analysts have said that a new annexation of Ukraine wouldn't be in Mr Putin's favour and that his true intentions could lie in the West. Biden was poised to be replaced as President and not by VP Kamala Harris Adeline van Houtte, the Economist Intelligence Unit's lead analyst on Russia, wrote for Politico: There are multiple reasons to question the narrative that has emerged in the West in recent weeks. The numbers don't add up if Russia's show of force was a prelude to an offensive, it would require far more troops and air defence. Russia would likely be more discreet, with this show of strength now so public that it would be impossible to take Ukraine by surprise, as it did with Crimea. The Ukrainian army is much stronger now than it was in 2014, and an invasion would be extremely costly for Russia, both economically and in manpower.
An incursion of this kind could also be politically risky for Mr Putin, who isn't as popular as he used to be among his electorate. Ms van Houtte said that Mr Putin is more likely to have his eye set on forcing Western powers to yield on recent matters that he believes go against Russian interests. Russia has been concerned about NATO activity, claiming that bomber flights carried nuclear weapons just 20 kilometres from its border last week. Ms van Houtte said that in the short term, what Putin wanted most was a meeting with the US President Joe Biden, and the military buildup has paved the way for this diplomatic bargaining. Putin and Biden are due to hold talks, where Putin will demand that NATO will limit its support to Ukraine and stop any potential expansion further east. To the West, those demands are unavoidable. Putin knows it, but with his military build-up Moscow has now been able to send a clear message about its red lines and the fact that the bloc will not be allowed to call all the shots.