President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will reportedly hold a videoconference meeting on Tuesday amid escalating tensions on the Russia-Ukraine border.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the meeting plan in his statement to the Russian Interfax news agency. Peskov informed that the meeting will be held on Tuesday evening.
The White House has not yet commented on the Kremlin’s statement.
Peskov said that the length of the meeting will be decided by the two leaders.
Russia’s massing of troops and equipment on the Ukrainian border is seen in the West as a sign of a possible invasion.
The Kremlin noted that Biden and Putin will discuss the Ukraine issue, as well as bilateral relations and the implementation of the agreements reached at their meeting in Geneva in June.
Biden told reporters on Friday that he was preparing a series of initiatives that would make it “very, very difficult” for Russia to escalate tensions on its border with Ukraine.
The situation on Ukraine’s eastern border has raised concerns that Moscow is preparing to invade its neighbor. The subject was also the main agenda item of this week’s NATO foreign ministers meeting. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned Russia that the cost of escalating tensions would be high.
Moscow, on the other hand, denies these accusations and argues that the US and Ukraine may themselves be preparing to attack.
The Washington Post newspaper also wrote that American intelligence estimated that Russia is planning a major attack from different fronts against Ukraine with 175,000 troops from the beginning of next year. The newspaper cited unnamed American officials and an intelligence document it had obtained as its source.
The newspaper reported that the document contained satellite photos and showed that around 70,000 Russian soldiers were deployed in four positions near the Ukrainian border.
The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) said it was “deeply concerned” by the evidence that Russia was planning “aggressive actions” against Ukraine. Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Tony Semelroth did not comment on the news in the American media.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said yesterday that Russia has deployed more than 94,000 troops near the Ukrainian border. Reznikov stated that this situation indicates that the Russians may be preparing for a major military operation at the end of January.
US President Biden, on the question of journalists at the White House, said that he was in constant contact with the allies in Europe and Ukraine regarding the issue, and that Foreign Minister Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan continued their extensive talks with their interlocutors.
“What I’ve done is put together a series of initiatives that I believe are the most comprehensive and meaningful to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to move forward and do what people fear he will do,” Biden said, but did not elaborate on what those initiatives were.
On the other hand, diplomatic efforts aimed at reducing tensions in the region continue. Blinken held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba in Stockholm, Sweden, on Thursday.
White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki also said on Friday, after the Kremlin announced that preparations were made for a virtual meeting between Biden and Putin, regarding a possible meeting, “This will of course be an opportunity to talk about our concerns about the belligerent rhetoric and the military buildup we are observing on the Ukrainian border. ” said.
Russian foreign adviser Yuri Ushakov also told reporters on Friday that Putin will demand guarantees from Biden during the meeting to prevent NATO expansion into Ukraine.
Some information in this news is taken from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence-France Press.