Biden warns Putin of ‘severe costs’ of Ukraine invasion

President Joe Biden has again called on President Vladimir Putin to pull back more than 100,000 Russian troops massed near Ukraine’s borders.

And warned that the US and its allies would “respond decisively and impose swift and severe costs” if Russia invades, according to the White House.

According to a readout of the hour-long call, Mr Biden told Mr Putin that an invasion would “produce widespread human suffering and diminish Russia’s standing”.

The US remains committed to diplomacy, but was “equally prepared for other scenarios”, according to the White House.

The two presidents spoke the day after Mr Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, warned that intelligence shows a Russian invasion could begin within days and before the Winter Olympics in Beijing end on February 20.

The Biden administration has been warning for weeks that Russia could invade Ukraine soon, but US officials had previously said the Kremlin would most likely wait until after the Games ended so as not to antagonise China.

Mr Sullivan told reporters on Friday that US intelligence shows Russia could take military action the during the Olympics.

Russia denies that it intends to launch an offensive against Ukraine.