WASHINGTON, DC — Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir
Putin will speak by telephone Thursday amid high tension on Ukraine, setting
the tone for
US-Russia security talks next month, the two nations announced.
اضافة اعلان
It will be the second telephone call in less than a month
between the two leaders, with Biden in early December warning Putin of
"severe consequences" if Russia invades
Ukraine.
Biden, who is at his home in Delaware for the New Year's
holiday, will speak to Putin on Thursday about "a range of topics,
including upcoming diplomatic engagements with Russia," said
Emily Horne,
spokeswoman for the National Security Council.
"The Biden administration continues to engage in
extensive diplomacy with our European allies and partners, consulting and
coordinating on a common approach in response to Russia's military build-up on
the border with Ukraine," she said in a statement Wednesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the call, saying
it would take place Thursday evening Russian time.
Russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops on the border
with Ukraine, according to Western officials who fear a repeat of 2014 when
Moscow seized the Crimean peninsula and a pro-Russia insurgency broke out in
eastern Ukraine that has left more than 13,000 people dead.
In a potential step to defuse tensions, senior US and
Russian officials plan to meet on January 10 in Geneva.
The meeting comes after Russia offered proposals to the US
that included calls not to expand
NATO eastward or to set up bases in former
Soviet republics.
The US has called some of the Russian positions non-starters
but said it is willing to talk and will also address its own concerns.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow in
the talks would take a "hard line" aimed at defending its interests
and avoiding "concessions".
Reassuring Ukraine
Ahead of the US-Russia talks, US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken spoke by telephone on Wednesday with Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky.
The top US diplomat "reiterated the US' unwavering
support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity in
the face of Russia's military buildup on Ukraine's borders," State
Department spokesman Ned Price said.
"The two discussed efforts to peacefully resolve the
conflict in eastern Ukraine and upcoming diplomatic engagements with
Russia," he said.
The Biden administration has vowed to take all actions in
lockstep with its European allies. Following the Geneva talks, Russian
delegates will meet with delegates of the NATO alliance ahead of a meeting of
the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, a key Cold War forum
that brings together Moscow and the West.
Russia has already been under sanctions since its 2014
actions in Ukraine, which came in response to the toppling of a government in
Kiev that had resisted calls to move closer to the West.
Biden has not spelled out what new measures could be in
place, but reports say the US could move to disconnect Russia from the
SWIFT system that connects the world’s banks, a major blow for a leading economy.
Fearful of Russia, Ukraine as well as former Soviet republic
Georgia have sought to join NATO although European members have made clear that
they are not enthusiastic about their accession.
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