US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin came together at the summit held via videoconference. According to the news of the Russian news agency RIA, the main topic of the meeting was Ukraine and lasted two hours and five minutes.
The meeting of the two leaders began at 10:07 am US time, according to the White House. The summit coincided with a period when Russia increased its military buildup on the Ukrainian border.
Russian state television reported that the two leaders greeted each other in a friendly way at the beginning of the meeting. According to the report, US President Biden told Russian President Putin that he hopes to meet face to face at the next meeting.
Biden to meet with European leaders
President Biden is scheduled to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Draghi and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the afternoon, the White House said.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is expected to make a statement regarding the Biden-Putin meeting.
What are the tense issues between the USA and Russia?
It was stated that US President Joe Biden was expected to seriously warn Putin about a possible operation against Ukraine during the meeting.
It is stated that in the event of an operation, the USA may impose harsh sanctions, especially against Russia’s financial system.
It is stated that Russia’s largest banks can make transactions within the financial system and transactions aimed at converting the Russian currency Ruble to the US Dollar and other currencies can be targeted. It is reported that removing Russia from the international money transfer SWIFT system may come to the fore.
It is known that US President Biden also received the support of European countries such as France, England, Germany and Italy regarding possible sanctions against Russia.
US intelligence agencies have released documents showing that by January Putin plans to send 175,000 troops to the Ukrainian border.
Authorities also say that Moscow targets the Ukrainian government in the virtual world, apart from the military buildup on the Ukrainian border, and carries out smear campaigns with misleading information.
Although the USA provides military support to Ukraine, it is pointed out that the USA will not send troops to Ukraine in case of a possible invasion of Russia.
Lastly, US President Joe Biden hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski at the White House in September and expressed the US support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Visiting the military units on the Russian border on Monday, Zelensky said that Ukraine has the power to resist Russia.