Biden, Putin to talk next week as tensions grow over Ukraine

MOSCOW – President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin volition talk by telephone connected Tuesday arsenic tensions betwixt the U.S. and Russia escalate implicit a Russian unit buildup connected the Ukrainian borderline seen arsenic a motion of a imaginable invasion.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed plans connected Saturday for the much-anticipated telephone and said it volition instrumentality spot successful the evening.

Russia is much adamant than ever that the U.S. guarantees that Ukraine volition not beryllium admitted to the NATO subject alliance. U.S. quality officials, meanwhile, person determined that Russia has massed astir 70,000 troops adjacent its borderline with Ukraine and has begun readying for a imaginable invasion arsenic soon arsenic aboriginal adjacent year, according to a Biden medication authoritative who was not authorized to sermon that uncovering publically and spoke connected the information of anonymity.

Ad

The risks for Putin of going done with specified an penetration would beryllium enormous.

U.S. officials and erstwhile American diplomats accidental portion the Russian president is intelligibly laying the groundwork for a imaginable invasion, Ukraine’s subject is amended equipped and prepared contiguous than successful the past, and that sanctions threatened by the West would bash superior harm to the Russian economy.

“What I americium doing is putting unneurotic what I judge to be, volition be, the astir broad and meaningful acceptable of initiatives to marque it very, precise hard for Mr. Putin to spell up and bash what radical are disquieted helium whitethorn do,” Biden said Friday.

Ukrainian officials person said Russia could invade adjacent month. Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said the fig of Russian troops adjacent Ukraine and successful Russia-annexed Crimea is estimated astatine 94,300, and warned that a “large-scale escalation” is imaginable successful January.

Ad

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, precocious charged that a radical of Russians and Ukrainians planned to effort a coup successful his country and that the plotters tried to enlist the assistance of Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov.

Russia and Akhmetov person denied that immoderate crippled is underway, but the Russians person go much explicit precocious successful their warnings to Ukraine and the United States.

Biden is tentatively besides scheduled to talk with Zelenskyy successful the coming week, according to a idiosyncratic adjacent to the Ukrainian leader. This idiosyncratic was not authorized to remark publically earlier the announcement of the telephone and spoke connected the information of anonymity.

The Kremlin said Friday that Putin, during his telephone with Biden, would question binding guarantees precluding NATO’s enlargement to Ukraine. Biden tried to caput disconnected the request successful comments to reporters Friday earlier leaving for a play enactment astatine Camp David.

Ad

“I don’t judge anyone’s reddish line,” Biden said.

White House property caput Jen Psaki said Friday that the medication would coordinate with European allies if it moved guardant with sanctions. She alluded to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that had been nether Ukraine’s power since 1954.

“We cognize what President Putin has done successful the past,” Psaki said. “We spot that helium is putting successful spot the capableness to instrumentality enactment successful abbreviated order.”

U.S.-Russia relations person been rocky since Biden took office.

His medication has imposed sanctions against Russian targets and called retired Putin for the Kremlin’s interference successful U.S. elections, cyberactivity against American companies and the attraction of absorption fig Alexei Navalny, who was poisoned past twelvemonth and aboriginal imprisoned.

When Putin and Biden met successful Geneva successful June, Biden warned that if Russia crossed definite reddish lines — including going aft large American infrastructure — his medication would respond and “the consequences of that would beryllium devastating.”

Ad

___

Madhani and Long reported from Washington.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.