WATCH: Jen Psaki’s Live Reaction to Ukrainian President Saying ‘There Are No Minor Incursions’ in Response to Biden
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked to give a live reaction to Volodymyr Zelensky’s response to President Joe Biden’s latest comments on the situation in Ukraine.
Psaki spoke to Fox News’ Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino on Thursday, where she defended Biden and faced a number of follow-up questions over the president’s press conference the day before. The interview took a turn at one point when Hemmer asked Psaki for her real time reaction to a tweet the Ukrainian president sent out just before the conversation began on America’s Newsroom.
“We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations,” said Zelensky. “Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones. I say this as the President of a great power.”
We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations. Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones. I say this as the President of a great power 🇺🇦
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 20, 2022
Zelensky’s “minor incursions” is a clear subtweet toward Biden, for his American counterpart drew a lot of attention by suggesting Wednesday that a “minor incursion” by Russia into Ukraine would not draw a massive response from the U.S. and NATO. The statement alarmed officials in Ukraine, and Psaki had to issue a statement after Biden’s presser in order to clarify that a Russian invasion of Ukraine “will be met with a swift, severe, and united response from the United States and our allies.”
Asked for her reaction to Zelensky’s comments, Psaki said “the president has conveyed directly to President Putin if there is a movement of any military troops across the border, that is an invasion. If they go in, that is an invasion, and there will be severe economic consequences.”
“I know President Zelensky knows that, we’ve conveyed that,” Psaki continued. “It is also true there are a range of tactics the Russians use. We have been warning about some of those steps, including the spreading of misinformation out there which has been widespread, was widespread in 2014. The use of cyber tools, and we also will be ready to respond to that as well, and we’ll be working in lock step with Ukraine.”
Watch above, via Fox News.
