The White House said on Saturday that Joe Biden will be with Vladimir Putin On Tuesday, it emphasized the United States’ concerns about Russia’s build-up of troops on the Ukrainian border.
diplomat Indicated Earlier this week, Biden and Putin will hold talks.
A sort of statement The news released on Saturday night stated that the President of the United States will “conduct a secure video call” with the President of Russia.
The statement said: “Leaders will discuss a series of topics in US-Russian relations, including strategic stability, cyber and regional issues.”
“President Biden will emphasize the United States’ concerns about Russia’s military activities along the Sino-Russian border. Ukraine And reiterated that the United States supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “
The major powers of Kiev and NATO accused Russia of building an army near Ukraine, raising concerns about possible attacks. Moscow denies any such plans and accuses Ukraine of establishing its own forces in the east, and Russia-backed separatists control most of Ukraine’s territory.
The Kremlin stated that the two leaders will also discuss bilateral relations and implement the agreement reached at the June Geneva summit.
“The dialogue will indeed take place on Tuesday,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters. “Bilateral relations, of course Ukraine and the realization of the agreement reached in Geneva are the main [items] Put on the agenda. “
The exact time of the call was not disclosed.
It is believed that more than 94,000 Russian troops have assembled near the Ukrainian border. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov (Oleksii Reznikov) cited intelligence reports on Friday that Moscow may plan to launch a large-scale military offensive at the end of January.
They said that US officials have reached similar conclusions.
Biden rejected Russia’s request for security in the region.
“My expectation is that we will have a long discussion with Putin,” Biden told reporters on Friday during a weekend trip to Camp David.
“I don’t accept anyone’s red line.”
The President of the United States stated that he and his advisers are preparing a comprehensive set of measures aimed at preventing Putin’s invasion. He did not provide more details, but the government has discussed cooperating with European allies to impose more sanctions on Russia.
Biden’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin separately stated that Washington is committed to ensuring that Ukraine has everything it needs to protect its territory. Austin added that diplomacy and leadership have a lot of room for Ukraine.
Moscow accused Kiev of conducting its own military buildup, treating its statements about attacking its southern neighbors as inflammatory hints, and defending its right to deploy troops on its own territory as it deems appropriate.
US officials said they do not know whether Putin has made the decision to invade Ukraine.
Over the years, U.S.-Russian relations have been deteriorating, especially Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, its intervention in Syria in 2015, and the accusation by U.S. intelligence agencies of Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 election. In recent months, relations between the two countries have still become more unstable.
The Biden administration has asked Moscow to crack down on ransomware and cybercrime attacks originating in Russia, and in November charged A Ukrainian national and a Russian were involved in one of the most serious ransomware attacks against American targets. Russia has repeatedly denied carrying out or tolerating cyber attacks.
Since Biden took office in January, the two leaders have held a face-to-face meeting in Geneva in June. The last time they talked on the phone was on July 9. Biden likes to have direct conversations with world leaders, believing that this is a way to ease tensions.
His Secretary of State Anthony Brinken warned Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Stockholm earlier this week that if Russia pursues further aggression against Ukraine, the United States and European allies will “inflict serious costs on Russia.” And consequences”.
Earlier on Saturday, Russia stated that an Aeroflot passenger plane flying from Tel Aviv to Moscow was forced to change altitude over the Black Sea because the NATO CL-600 reconnaissance plane crossed its flight path.
The national airline stated that the SU501 flight with 142 passengers had to descend 2,000 feet on Friday after air traffic control told it another plane had crossed its path. It said the crew was able to see another aircraft.
Aviation authority Rosaviatsia stated that a small CL-650 plane flying from the Black Sea resort of Sochi to Skopje also had to change its course. It did not specify which NATO member state the reconnaissance plane belongs to. The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Friday that it urgently dispatched fighter jets to escort two U.S. reconnaissance planes over the Black Sea. The US Embassy in Moscow did not immediately comment on the matter.
Rosaviatsia said that NATO’s increased flights are posing risks to civilian aircraft, and Moscow plans to file a diplomatic complaint.
