In the phone call yesterday afternoon with President Biden, Russian thug and autocrat Vladimir Putin threatened the U.S. and its allies with a "complete rupture" in relations should heavy sanctions be imposed if Russia were to invade Ukraine. It's believed that remaining sanctions against Russia would not only severely cripple the Russian economy, but would directly impact the finances and lifestyle of Putin and his corrupt circle of oligarchs.
Putin has mobilized roughly 100,000 troops and equipment near its border with Ukraine in an effort to dissuade Ukraine from closer relations with the West. Over the past few years, Putin has made it clear that he sees Ukraine as a vassal state of Russia, if not part of Russia itself. He recently made demands on the NATO and the U.S. for a written agreement that NATO would not accept Ukraine as a member, and that it would halt any further expansion eastward in former Soviet republics. The demands are seen as "non-starters" by the U.S. and its allies.
Employing some traditional sabre rattling, Russia continued testing more test firings of its Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile just days ago from a frigate and a submarine as if to warn the West about interfering with Russian ambitions toward Ukraine. Bilateral talks at the deputy ministerial level are scheduled to be held in Geneva on January 9 and 10, and at the NATO--Russia Council on January 12 in an attempt to defuse the tense standoff.
