Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin A virtual summit was held on Tuesday, but after Russia assembled its troops, little progress was made in resolving the Ukrainian crisis. Instead, officials of the two countries were commissioned to maintain contact.
The two leaders had a conversation for just over two hours via video conference. The White House’s description of the call stated that Biden expressed “deep concern” about Russia’s military build-up in the surrounding area. Ukraine And “clearly stated that if the military escalates, the United States and our allies will take strong economic and other measures to respond.”
The nature of the “other measures” was not stated, but US officials said The U.S. will be open to requests from European allies to strengthen NATO’s east wingIf Russia invades Ukraine, it will strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities. Economic measures under consideration include prohibiting Russian bonds from entering the secondary market, imposing sanctions on major Russian companies and banks, and possible expulsion from the international electronic payment system Swift.
The President of the United States reiterated his support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and called for a easing of the situation and the resumption of diplomacy.
The White House stated that the two leaders have “instructed their teams to follow up,” adding that the United States will coordinate with allies and partners to do so.
After the call, Biden talked with the leaders of the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy through a conference call. The President held consultations with them on Monday, and the White House stated that they had agreed to “a coordinated and comprehensive approach to maintaining close contact with Russia’s military buildup on the Ukrainian border”.
Russia was unusually slow when it announced its version of the results of the talks on Tuesday. More than an hour after the end of the talks, the Kremlin has still not announced official news.
Before the meeting, Putin greeted Biden informally, leaned back in his chair, and waved to the TV screen: “Mr. President, hello.” Russian TV reported that the meeting was conducted one-on-one, except for translation. There are no assistants.
Russian officials stated that Putin will pressure Biden to force Kiev to comply with the 2015 Minsk agreement, which Russia and Ukraine both accused each other of violating the agreement. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (Sergey Lavrov) said before Tuesday’s meeting: “It seems that Kiev will not listen to anyone but the United States.”
The agreement provides for Ukraine to reform its constitution and initiate direct dialogue with Russian-backed separatists, both of which are extremely unpopular in Kiev. Analysts say these requests are impossible.
Russia also stated that Putin will put pressure on Biden’s “red line”, including the Kremlin’s opposition to Ukraine’s entry into NATO or the massive cooperation between Kiev and the military alliance.
“Russia will not attack anyone, but we have our own concerns and red lines. [Putin] It has been clearly stated,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters before the meeting.
Analysts said that Putin is prepared to use force to achieve his goals in Ukraine, but the offense is not a foregone conclusion.
Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said in an interview before the meeting: “Putin has always been interested in raising the stakes to test the resilience of the West.”
He said that this meeting may only produce modest gains, such as agreeing to continue further negotiations.
Klimkin said: “If they agree to start bilateral talks or have a clear agenda within the Normandy model, that will be a sign of relaxation.” The Normandy format is a contact group for Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France. It was established in 2014. Aims to negotiate on Ukraine issues.
At the same time, he said that Putin is unlikely to order the rapid withdrawal of Russian troops assembled on the border.
“They will stay,” he said. “For the Russians, it is important to start working with the Americans and Europe In anything. Strategic stability on other issues. It also guarantees the so-called legal guarantee that NATO will not further expand. This factor is very important for any dialogue with the United States.Troops will be withdrawn [to base] Only when he clearly understands that he lost or he won. Otherwise it won’t work. “
