West did not plan to attack Russia - Biden

WARSAW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - The United States and other Western countries do not seek to take control of Russia and did not plan attacking it, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.

"The United States and the nations of Europe do not seek to destroy or control Russia. The West was not plotting to attack Russia," Biden said in his speech in Warsaw.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier on Tuesday that Russia would properly respond to plans to turn the local conflict in Ukraine into global confrontation, and that Russia cannot be defeated on the battlefield.

"Western elites aren't hiding their goal to deliver Russia a strategic defeat, as they say - that's a direct quote. What does it mean? What is it for us? This means putting an end to us once and for all, that is, they intend to turn the local conflict into a phase of global confrontation. This is exactly how we understand that, and we'll respond to that accordingly," Putin said in his address to the Russian Federal Assembly on Tuesday.