Ukraine conflict – Biden and Putin were on the phone on Thursday
Presidents among themselves: Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden in Switzerland last summer
Source: AP / Patrick Semansky
Amid growing tensions over Ukraine, US President Joe Biden plans to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone this Thursday. Imminent diplomatic appointments are to be discussed.
F.US President Joe Biden wants to threaten Russian President Vladimir Putin with severe sanctions in the event of further military intervention in Ukraine. A senior White House representative said that Biden would campaign for a diplomatic solution in a phone call with Putin this Thursday, but also emphasize the willingness to take tough punitive measures.
“We have coordinated with our allies to impose harsh sanctions on the Russian economy and the financial system – much more extensive than what was implemented in 2014,” said the US government representative on Wednesday. At that time, Russia had annexed the Crimean peninsula and began to support separatists in eastern Ukraine.
In the event of a renewed Russian invasion of Ukraine, there are already plans to expand NATO’s presence in the Eastern European member states and to strengthen their capabilities, warned the US representative. In addition, they are ready to “provide Ukraine with further support to defend its territory and to respond to a possible Russian occupation,” he said. “President Biden will make it clear that there is a diplomatic path to de-escalation in the region if President Putin is interested in taking that path,” the US official said.
The Kremlin in Moscow confirmed the planned phone call. According to the White House, the short-term phone call with Biden is planned for Thursday evening (9:30 p.m. CET).
The White House said the US government is in close contact with European allies and partners to coordinate the response to the growing Russian military presence on the border with Ukraine. The National Security Council continued to explain that Biden had already spoken to colleagues in Europe about this personally.
Previously there had been criticism from Brussels that the European Union should be involved in the planned talks in Geneva. “We do not want to and must not be an uninvolved audience, whose heads will be decided”, said the EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell of the WELT.
Putin had agreed to a diplomatic solution
Biden and Putin spoke at the beginning of December as part of a two-hour video link. As heads of state, Putin and Biden first met personally in Geneva in June.
The US has been accusing Russia of a massive deployment of troops not far from the border with Ukraine for weeks. A Russian invasion of the ex-Soviet republic is feared in the West. Russia rejects this and again accuses Ukraine of having moved more soldiers to the line to the separatist areas.
Putin agreed to a diplomatic solution last week, but at the same time demanded security guarantees. This included an end to NATO’s eastward expansion, and with it a waiver of NATO membership for Ukraine.
Among other things, the phone call is intended to prepare a meeting planned for January 10 in Geneva, which will deal with the Ukraine conflict and probably also with NATO’s security guarantees demanded by Moscow. Beyond the Geneva meeting, diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the escalating conflict in Ukraine are set to pick up speed in January. NATO is planning talks with the Russian side for January 12th. In addition, there is to be a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on January 13th.
Direct military intervention by the US or NATO would be unlikely in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Washington and its European allies are more likely to react with drastic economic sanctions. Among other things, consideration should be given to excluding Russia from the international payments system of the Belgium-based organization Swift. Such a move would also damage Russia’s energy industry as one of the country’s most important industries.