President Biden Calls Ukraine's Attack On Russia Causes A Real Dilemma For Vladimir Putin

US President Joe Biden. (Wikimedia Commons/The White House)

JAKARTA - United States President Joe Biden said on Tuesday Ukraine's military offensive to Russia created a real dilemma for President Vladimir Putin, adding US officials continue to communicate with Ukraine about the move.

A week after about 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers broke through the Russian border in the early hours of August 6 in tanks and armored vehicles, officials of Uncle Sam's country said they were still trying to find out what Ukraine wanted to achieve with its attacks.

Answering questions from reporters on arrival in New Orleans, President Biden said he had been briefed every four to five hours over the past six to eight days of Ukraine's actions.

"This creates a real dilemma for Putin," he said.

The White House said Ukraine had not given advance notice of its attack, which took place on Russia's Kursk territory.

Russian troops on Tuesday retaliated against Ukrainian troops by carrying out missile attacks, drones and airstrikes.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One, saying Washington was not involved in the operation.

"We have nothing to do with this," he said.

"We are not involved. We will continue to discuss with Ukraine about their approach, but it is really their right to speak," he added.

Uncle Sam's country is known to have provided billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine, most of which are aimed at defense purposes, as the country seeks to repel Russia's invasion in February 2022.

Last May, President Biden allowed Kyiv to launch US-suppressed weapons on military targets within Russia, which were used to carry out attacks on Kharkiv City in northeastern Ukraine.

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On the other hand, President Putin said he believed Ukraine's operations were aimed at improving Kyiv's negotiating position, ahead of possible negotiations and slowing the progress of Russian troops along the front lines.

However, US officials said Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's goal was still unclear.

"We are trying to find out exactly what they are doing and the purpose here and that is still not 100 percent clear," a US official said.