MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned Wednesday that Moscow will submit its proposals for a safety dialogue with the U.S. per week after his name with U.S. President Joe Biden amid Western issues a couple of Russian navy buildup close to the Ukrainian border.
The Russian chief reaffirmed his denial of planning to assault Ukraine, however mentioned that Moscow can’t stay detached to NATO’s attainable growth to its neighbor.
WATCH: Biden made penalties of Ukraine invasion ‘crystal clear’ in name with Russia’s Putin
“Russia will put together its arguments actually in just a few days, inside per week, and we’ll submit it to the American aspect for consideration,” he mentioned, including that he and Biden have agreed to “type a construction that may take care of it in an in depth and thorough means.”
He described the two-hour dialog with Biden in a video name Tuesday as “very open, particular and, I’d say constructive.”
“We have now a possibility to proceed this dialogue, which I feel is an important factor,” Putin advised reporters after talks in Sochi with visiting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The leader-to-leader dialog — Biden talking from the White Home Scenario Room, Putin from his residence in Sochi — was one of the crucial vital of Biden’s presidency and got here at a deadly time.
U.S. intelligence officers have decided that Russia has moved 70,000 troops close to the Ukraine border and has made preparations for a attainable invasion early subsequent yr. Moscow has denied any plans to assault Ukraine, rejecting Western issues as a part of a marketing campaign to smear Russia.
Biden delivered a easy message to Putin: invade Ukraine once more and face painful sanctions that can do resounding hurt to your economic system. The Russian president had his personal blunt take, telling Biden that “the Russian troops are on their very own territory, they usually don’t threaten anybody,” in response to Putin international coverage adviser Yuri Ushakov.
Biden “advised President Putin instantly that if Russia additional invades Ukraine, america and our European allies would reply with sturdy financial measures,” U.S. Nationwide Safety Adviser Jake Sullivan mentioned.
Sullivan mentioned the U.S. believes that Putin hasn’t but made a last resolution to invade. Biden was vice chairman in 2014 when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and backed an insurgency in japanese Ukraine, which has killed greater than 14,000 folks and remains to be an energetic battle.
READ MORE: Ukraine says Russia amassed over 94,000 troops at border
White Home officers made clear that Biden just isn’t concerned about placing U.S. troops in hurt’s means defending Ukraine. However Sullivan famous that Biden mentioned the U.S. would additionally “present extra defensive materials to the Ukrainians … and we might fortify our NATO allies on the japanese flank with extra capabilities in response to such an escalation.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned Wednesday that “it was optimistic that the U.S. president spoke to the Russian president,” including that he would remark intimately on Thursday, after his personal cellphone name with Biden.
Requested Wednesday if Russia was going to assault Ukraine, Putin referred to as the query provocative, saying that “Russia is conducting a peaceable international coverage, nevertheless it has the proper to make sure its safety within the mid- and long-term perspective.”
The Russian president famous that “NATO, regrettably, has pursued a clearly confrontational course with respect to Russia,” including that “we aren’t bracing up for confrontation with anybody.”
Putin entered the decision on the lookout for Western ensures precluding NATO’s growth to Ukraine, a requirement that the U.S. and its NATO allies thought of a non-starter.
Ushakov mentioned Putin countered Biden’s expressions of concern in regards to the Russian troop buildup close to Ukraine by snapping: “You People are nervous about Russian battalions on Russian territory 1000’s of miles away from america, whereas we’re actually nervous about our safety.”
Because the U.S. and Russian presidents conferred, Ukraine grew solely extra anxious a couple of potential Russian assault, claiming that Russia has despatched tanks and snipers to separatist-controlled areas in japanese Ukraine to “provoke return hearth” and lay a pretext for a possible invasion.
U.S. intelligence officers haven’t been in a position to independently confirm that accusation, in response to an administration official who spoke on situation of anonymity to debate the delicate matter.
Moscow has repeatedly denied Ukrainian and Western reviews in regards to the presence of its troops in japanese Ukraine.
READ MORE: Putin calls for NATO ensures to not increase eastward
With no fast breakthrough on the Ukraine query, the U.S. emphasised a necessity for diplomacy and de-escalation, whereas issuing stern threats to Russia in regards to the excessive prices of a navy incursion.
A high U.S. envoy, Victoria Nuland, mentioned a Russian invasion of Ukraine would additionally jeopardize a controversial pipeline between Russia and Germany often called Nord Stream 2. She advised the Senate International Relations Committee on Tuesday that if Russia invaded, “our expectation is that the pipeline might be suspended.”
Ushakov, Putin’s international coverage aide, dismissed the sanctions risk, telling reporters after the decision: “Sanctions aren’t one thing new. They’ve been in place for a very long time and haven’t had any impact.”
The 2 leaders spoke on the eightieth anniversary of the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor, a defining second that led to the U.S. entry in World Battle II. They commiserated about the price of that battle to their very own households, Ushakov famous. Hours earlier than the high-stakes name, Biden and first girl Jill Biden visited a conflict memorial in Washington to commemorate the anniversary.
On one other matter, Putin proposed to carry all mutual restrictions on diplomatic missions and assist normalize different features of bilateral relations, in response to the Kremlin. Sullivan mentioned the leaders would direct their workers to proceed negotiations on that.
Aides say the annexation of Crimea — one of many darker moments for then-President Barack Obama on the worldwide stage — looms massive as Biden appears to be like on the smoldering present disaster.
Biden’s Republican opponents in Washington are framing this second as a key check of the president’s management on the worldwide stage. Biden vowed as a candidate to reassert American management after President Donald Trump’s emphasis on an “America First” international coverage.
There was a minimum of one space the place the 2 leaders discovered frequent floor throughout Tuesday’s name.
Sullivan mentioned Biden and Putin had a “good dialogue” on efforts to forestall Iran from changing into a nuclear energy and referred to as it an space the place the 2 nations might cooperate.
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Aamer Madhani reported from Washington. Daniel Kozin in Moscow, and Robert Burns, Zeke Miller and Nomaan Service provider in Washington, contributed to this report.
