Washington, Dec 8: (AP) President Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin were still far apart after two hours of talks on the escalating crisis caused by Russia’s massing of tens of thousands of troops near its border with Ukraine.
Biden delivered a simple message during Tuesday’s video call with Putin: invade Ukraine again and face painful sanctions that will do resounding harm to your economy.
Putin had his own blunt take, according to his foreign adviser Yuri Ushakov, telling the US president that “the Russian troops are on their own territory, and they don’t threaten anyone”. With no immediate breakthrough to ease tensions on the Ukraine question, the US emphasised a need for diplomacy and de-escalation, while issuing stern threats to Russia about the high costs of a military incursion.
Biden “told President Putin directly that if Russia further invades Ukraine, the United States and our European allies would respond with strong economic measures,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said. He added that Biden said the US would also “provide additional defensive material to the Ukrainians…And we would fortify our NATO allies on the eastern flank with additional capabilities in response to such an escalation”.
White House officials made clear that Biden is not interested in putting US troops in harm’s way defending Ukraine. But Sullivan added that potential efforts to bolster regional allies could lead to additional deployments of US troops to eastern European NATO allies.
A top US envoy, Victoria Nuland, said a Russian invasion of Ukraine would also jeopardise a controversial pipeline between Russia and Germany known as Nord Stream 2. She told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday that if Russia invaded, “our expectation is that the pipeline will be suspended”. Ushakov dismissed the sanctions threat during his own comments to reporters following the leaders’ meeting.
“While the US president talked about possible sanctions, our president emphasised what Russia needs,” Ushakov said. “Sanctions aren’t something new, they have been in place for a long time and will not have any effect.” He described the presidents’ video conference as “candid and businesslike,” adding that they also exchanged occasional jokes.