US President Joe Biden will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone today to reduce tensions between Ukraine and Russia.
A White House official said the two leaders would discuss security talks between the countries and the situation in Europe during the meeting.
Speaking to AFP, the US official said that in the second meeting between the two leaders on the issue, Biden would offer Putin a “diplomatic path”, but he would also convey that he was “serious” over the Russian troops massed on the border.
Biden is expected to tell Putin that the United States is ready to respond if Russia moves forward by “invading Ukraine”.
The two leaders also held a meeting in the first week of December via video conference.
The recent increase of Moscow’s military presence on the Ukrainian border has led to an increase in tension in the region.
Ukrainian officials have said that Russia may be targeting an operation at the end of January.
Russia, which has massed troops on the border with Ukraine, denies the allegations that it plans to invade the country.
Stating that the military units are there for the exercises, Moscow states that it has the right to move its soldiers freely on its territory.
In a statement made by the White House, it was stated that Washington had exchanged ideas with European leaders before a common stance on the issue would be taken.
It was stated that Biden warned his Russian counterpart that “they could take drastic economic measures” in the first meeting on the subject.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said in the meeting that Blinken “reiterated the unwavering support of the United States for Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s deployment of its troops on the Ukrainian border.”
Biden and Putin also met face-to-face in Switzerland in June, but failed to make any headway other than agreeing to repatriate their ambassadors to each other’s country and starting a dialogue on nuclear weapons control.
The Moscow administration annexed the Crimea and Sevastopol regions of Ukraine in 2014.
According to Kiev, more than 14,000 people died in the fighting.