Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden have met in a video call, but have not agreed on decreasing tensions caused by Russia amassing troops near its border with Ukraine, American news agency AP reports.
The summit video meeting took place on Tuesday, December 7. The US President «told President Putin directly that if Russia further invades Ukraine, the United States and our European allies would respond with strong economic measures,» according to U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. The official also revealed that Biden noted the U.S. would also «provide additional defensive material to the Ukrainians … and we would fortify our NATO allies on the eastern flank with additional capabilities in response to such an escalation.»
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Putin’s foreign adviser Yuri Ushakov said to media representatives after the talks that the Russian President had argued that «the Russian troops are on their own territory, and they don’t threaten anyone». The adviser downplayed the sanctions threat as potentially ineffective and noted that Putin had required guarantees from Biden that an expansion of the NATO military alliance would never include Ukraine, yet the demand is unacceptable for the U.S. and its NATO allies.
American intelligence officials have stated that Moscow has moved 70,000 troops near the Russian border with Ukraine and has made preparations for a possible invasion early in 2022, AP reports.
US-Russian presidents reach no agreement on safety of Ukraine
