President Joe Biden said Friday the United States is prepared to defend NATO territory but warned that it would absolutely lead to World War III.
“I want to be clear: We will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full might of a united and galvanized NATO,” Biden tweeted Friday. “But we will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine.”
“A direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III. And something we must strive to prevent.”
Biden made similar remarks while speaking in Philadelphia on Friday.
“As we provide this support to Ukraine, we’re going to continue to stand together with our allies in Europe and send an unmistakable message: that we will defend every inch of NATO territory,” Biden said. “If they move once – granted, if we respond, it is World War III, but we have a sacred obligation on NATO territory.”
Biden clarified,“we will not fight the Third World War in Ukraine,” by declaring a no-fly zone.
The president has made similar statements in the past, stating as recently as February that the U.S. would not send troops to evacuate American citizens stuck in Ukraine should Russia invade. Biden warned doing so could lead to a“world war.”
“That’a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another,” Biden said when asked if there was any situation in which he’d deploy troops to assist Americans evacuating. “We’re in a very different world than we’ve ever been.”
