Biden suggests Russia may not be heavily punished for a 'minor incursion' into Ukraine, prompting White House scramble to clarify

• Biden appeared to suggest the US may not heavily punish Russia for a "minor" invasion of Ukraine.
• "It's one thing if it's a minor incursion and we [NATO] end up having to fight about what to do and not to do," he said.

President Joe Biden appeared to suggest the US may not heavily punish Russia if it conducts a "minor incursion" into Ukraine, prompting the White House to swiftly clarify his remarks.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Biden said that he predicts President Vladimir Putin will invade Ukraine and that NATO needs to be in agreement on a response.

"I think what you're going to see is that Russia will be held accountable if it invades, and it depends on what it does," Biden said.

"It's one thing if it's a minor incursion and we [NATO] end up having to fight about what to do and not to do."

Russia has been amassing tens of thousands of troops and artillery at Ukraine's border for weeks, with Ukraine and the US warning of an imminent invasion. Russia repeatedly claims it has no plans to invade.

A number of US political figures criticized Biden after his speech.

"Imagine being Vladimir Putin and contemplating invading Ukraine. Then you see this train wreck of a press conference broadcasting Biden's weak leadership," Nikki Haley, former US ambassador to the UN, tweeted.

GOP Sen. James Inhofe, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, tweeted: "I am very concerned by the weak, incoherent message we just heard from @POTUS on Ukraine."

When asked to clarify Biden's remarks in a press conference later Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: "If any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border, that's a renewed invasion, and it will be met with a swift, severe, and united response from the US and our allies."

Emily Horne, the spokesperson for the National Security Council, tweeted soon after Biden's speech that the president was in fact distinguishing between military and non-military responses, and was not letting Russia off the hook.

During his speech, Biden said that if Russia didn't launch a military invasion of Ukraine, but carried out a cyberattack, the US and its allies could respond with a similar cyberattack.

In an apparent reference to Biden's remarks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted Thursday: "We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations."

—Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 20, 2022