US President Joe Biden is meeting his national security team on Monday about Russia and Ukraine, a White House official said, as Russian President Vladimir Putin weighed a request by two regions of eastern Ukraine to be recognized as independent, a move that could give Moscow a reason to openly send in troops.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the White House official made the comments after a Reuters eyewitness saw Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrive at the White House on the US Presidents Day federal holiday.