As the crisis in Ukraine continues and Russia is likely to invade the country, US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin talked on Saturday, February 12.
According to a White House statement, President Biden told his Russian counterpart in a telephone interview that if Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States, its allies and partners would retaliate and impose swift and severe sanctions on Russia.
Biden told Putin that Russia’s attack on Ukraine would cause widespread human suffering and weaken Russia’s position in the world.
A statement from the White House said, “President Biden has made it clear that the United States is as ready to engage in diplomacy as it is to engage in other scenarios with its allies and other partners.”
According to a Reuters report, the telephone conversation, which began at 11 a.m. Eastern time, lasted 62 minutes.
Meanwhile, a French official said Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron would hold telephone talks after talks between US and Russian leaders.
Mr Macron spoke on the phone with his Russian counterpart for 90 minutes before the talks between Biden and Putin this morning, and told the Russian president that real talks did not go hand in hand with the escalation of the Ukraine crisis.
French President Vladimir Putin has said in a statement that Mr Putin did not say anything in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blanken said today that if Putin decides to strike, Washington will impose swift economic sanctions on country.
U.S. officials have warned that Russia’s air, ground and naval forces near Ukraine have reached a point where an attack could begin shortly.
Western sources say Russia wants to invade Ukraine by deploying more than 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border, but Russia has always denied the allegations.
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