White House Awkwardly Walks Back Warning Of “Imminent” Ukraine Invasion
On Wednesday the White House walked back its prior consistent assertions that a Russian invasion of Ukraine was “imminent”. Spokeswoman Jen Psaki and other admin had in the last week or more doubled down on the word (which included Blinken in media statements) even as Ukraine’s President Zelensky openly disputed the alarmist assessment, essentially telling Biden directly to ‘calm down’ the hyped rhetoric.
Moscow too, blasted Washington’s “hysteria” – with Putin on Tuesday saying the US is trying to goad Russia and Ukraine into war in order to justify far-reaching sanctions and isolating the Russian economy. Here’s Psaki, straight-faced, awkwardly trying to explain her own sudden narrative shift after weeks of “the Russians are coming!”.