US President Joe Biden holds virtual talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid fears in the West that Moscow is planning an attack on Ukraine, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens to other officials in a secure video call from the Love Room Situation at the White House in Washington, USA, December 7, 2021.
White House via Reuters
Face-to-face for just over two hours, President Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin of Russia argued in a secure video call Tuesday as the US President made the announcement that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would brought great harm to the Russian economy.
The much-anticipated phone call between the two leaders comes amid growing concerns between the United States and its Western allies about a Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Mr. Putin attended the meeting to seek assurances from Biden that the NATO military alliance would never expand to include Ukraine, which has long sought membership. The Americans and their NATO allies have said in advance that Putin’s request is impossible to initiate.
As the presidents of the United States and Russia have given power, Ukrainian officials have grown increasingly worried about the tens of thousands of Russian troops already deployed near their borders.
Just hours before the start of the Biden-Putin video call, Ukrainian officials accused Russia of escalating the simmering crisis by sending tanks and snipers to war-torn eastern Ukraine. devastating to “incite return fire” and pretext for potential invasion.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the allegations, referring the question to the Russian Defense Ministry, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a short excerpt from the start of the meeting broadcast by Russian state television, the two leaders greeted each other amicably at the start of a lengthy conversation.
“I salute you, Mr. President,” Putin said, speaking with a Russian flag behind and a video screen showing Biden in front of him.
“Nice to meet you!” Biden chuckled in response. He then quickly noted Putin’s absence from the recent Group of 20 summit in Rome.
The Russians joined the large gathering of industrialized nations by video link simply because of concerns about Covid-19 at home.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t meet at the G-20 last time,” Biden said. “I hope next time we meet to do it in person.”
Biden aimed to make clear that his administration is willing to take actions against the Kremlin that would be exactly “a very real cost” to the Russian economy, according to White House officials. For his part, Putin is expected to ask Biden to ensure that the NATO military alliance never expands to include Ukraine, which has long sought membership. That’s a no-no for the Americans and their NATO allies.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday in preview of the meeting: “We have consulted significantly with our allies and believe we have a way forward that can be cause significant and serious harm to the Russian economy. “You could call it a threat. You can call it a fact. You can call it preparation. You can call it whatever you want.”
The leader-to-leader conversation – Biden speaking from the Situation Room, Putin from his residence in Sochi – was one of the most difficult conversations of Biden’s presidency and took place at a dangerous time. US intelligence officials have determined that Russia has deployed 70,000 troops near the Ukrainian border and is preparing for a possible invasion as early as next year.
The US has not yet determined whether Putin will make the final decision on the invasion. However, Mr. Biden did manage to make it clear to the Russian leader that there would be “very real costs” if Russia took military action, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Biden was vice president in 2014 when Russian troops entered the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea and annexed territory from Ukraine. Aides say the Crimea episode – one of the darkest moments for former President Barack Obama on the international stage – comes up a lot as Biden looks at the current simmering crisis.
In this photo taken on November 19, 2021, Ground Forces Attaché at the US Embassy in Ukraine, Colonel Brandon Presley, looks at a map during a visit by a US Embassy delegation to Ukraine to the area of operation of the Joint Forces during the war-hit Donetsk region, Ukraine.
Press Service Ukraine Combined Forces Operation | AP
NATO’s eastward expansion has been a point of contention not only with Moscow but also with Washington from the very beginning. In 1996, when President Bill Clinton’s national security team debated when to invite membership to former Soviet allies Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, Secretary of Defense William Perry urged delay to keep Russian relations on track. Perry wrote in his memoirs that when he lost the internal debate, he considered resigning.
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were officially invited in 1997 and joined in 1999. This was followed in 2004 by Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and former Soviet Union countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Since then, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia have joined, bringing NATO’s total to 30 countries.
An important principle of the NATO alliance is that membership is open to any country that qualifies. And no outsider has the right to veto a member. Although there is little prospect that Ukraine will soon be invited to join the alliance, the US and its allies will not rule it out.
In Washington, Republicans are seeing the moment as a major test of Biden’s leadership on the global stage. Biden vowed to be a candidate to reassert American leadership after President Donald Trump emphasized his “America First” foreign policy. But Biden has faced fierce criticism from Republicans, who say he has been ineffective in slowing Iran’s progress to becoming a nuclear power and that the Biden administration has gone too far. little to resist autocratic leaders like China’s Xi Jinping, Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Putin.
“The autocrats in Beijing and Tehran will be watching how the free world reacts,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said from the Senate floor on Monday. “And President Biden has the opportunity to set his sights on when he talks to Putin.”
Trump, who has shown unusual respect for Putin during his presidency, said in a Newsmax interview on Monday that the Biden-Putin conversation would not be a “fair match.” , describing it as the equivalent of the six-time Super Bowl champions that the New England Patriots faced a high school football team.
Ahead of President Putin’s call, Mr. Biden on Monday spoke with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy to coordinate messages and potential sanctions. He is expected to speak to them again on Tuesday following his call with Putin as he seeks to coordinate with allies before potentially imposing new sanctions against Russia.
Ahead of the Biden-Putin confrontation, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter that he and Blinken “agreed to continue acting together & in coordination” and expressed gratitude for the US and its allies’ “continued support of our sovereignty and territorial integrity”. I”. Biden is expected to speak with Zelenskyy later this week.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Blinken “reiterates the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression.”
Conscription soldiers line up at a train station before departing for military service with the Russian Army. This year, the fall enlistment in Russia runs from October 1 to December 31; an estimated 127,500 men will be enlisted.
Sergei Malgavko | TASS | beautiful pictures
The Kremlin has made it clear that Putin planned to seek binding guarantees from Biden to prevent NATO expansion into Ukraine. Biden and aides have indicated that such guarantees are unlikely, with the president saying he “won’t accept anyone’s red lines.”
“NATO member states decide who is a member of NATO, not Russia. And that’s how it’s always been and how it’s going to be. ”
However, Putin sees this as a time to readjust the dynamics of Russia-US relations.
“It’s about the basic principles established 30 years ago for the relationship between Russia and the West,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, a leading expert on foreign policy based in Moscow. “Russia asked to amend these principles, the West says there is no basis for that. So it is not possible to come to an agreement just like that.”
Outside of Ukraine, there are many other conundrums on the table, including cyberattacks and human rights. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia-US relations in general are in a “pretty bad state”.
Both the White House and the Kremlin sought to lower expectations about the call. Both sides said they did not expect any breakthrough on Ukraine or other issues being discussed, but that only the dialogue would make progress.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that “obviously, if the two presidents decide to have a conversation, they intend to discuss the issues and have no intention of bringing it up.” dead end.”
“Putin has said many times that we seek a good, predictable relationship with the United States,” Peskov said. “Russia never planned to attack anyone. But we have our own concerns, our own red lines – the president has made that clear. Mr. Biden then replied that he did not intend to accept any red lines. This issue will also be discussed (in the call). ”
Peskov described the Biden-Putin call as a “working conversation during a very difficult period” when “the escalation of tensions in Europe is an extraordinary one.”
