WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the US is still working on a diplomatic solution to the present impasse between Russia and the West over Ukraine, while also warning Russia that if it invades its neighbour, it will face heavy consequences.

According to sources, Biden said his country is prepared "to engage in diplomacy with Russia and our allies and partners to strengthen stability and security in Europe as a whole" during broadcast remarks from the White House on the deteriorating situation on Ukraine's borders.

"If Russia chooses to attack Ukraine, the West will respond decisively," he said. "We should give diplomacy every chance to succeed," Biden said, agreeing with a suggestion from the Russian government to continue diplomatic talks. During their Saturday phone discussion, he said he assured Russian President Vladimir Putin that the US is willing to "keep pursuing high-level diplomacy" to reach "written understandings" with Russia.

The US President stated that his country had "placed on the table tangible suggestions to develop a security environment in Europe," alluding to a written paper that the US sent to Russia last month in response to Moscow's security concerns. The US document ignores the Kremlin's fundamental requests, the most important of which is that NATO cannot expand eastward to include Ukraine as a member.

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