WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Face to face for over two hours, President Joe Biden and Russia鈥檚 Vladimir Putin squared off in a secure video call Tuesday as the U.S. president put Moscow on notice that an invasion of Ukraine would bring sanctions and enormous harm to the Russian economy.
With tens of thousands of , the highly anticipated call between the two leaders came amid growing worries by the U.S. and Western allies about Russia鈥檚 .
Putin, for his part, came into the meeting seeking guarantees from Biden , which has long sought membership. The Americans and their NATO allies said that request was a non-starter.
There appeared to be no immediate breakthroughs to ease tensions on the Ukraine question, as the U.S. emphasized a need for diplomacy and de-escalation, and issued stern threats to Russia on the consequences of an invasion.
Biden 鈥渢old President Putin directly that if Russia further invades Ukraine, the United States and our European allies would respond with strong economic measures,鈥� U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said after the call.
He added that Biden said the U.S. would also 鈥減rovide additional defensive materiel to the Ukrainians 鈥� and we would fortify our NATO allies on the eastern flank with additional capabilities in response to such an escalation.鈥�
That could include additional deployments of U.S. troops to eastern European NATO allies, the adviser said.
A top U.S. envoy, Victoria Nuland, said a Russian invasion of Ukraine also would jeopardize a controversial pipeline between Russia and Germany. She told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday that if Russia invaded, 鈥渙ur expectation is that the pipeline will be suspended.鈥�
Putin鈥檚 foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov dismissed the sanctions threat during a conference call with reporters.
鈥淲hile the U.S. president talked about possible sanctions, our president emphasized what Russia needs,鈥� Ushakov said. "Sanctions aren鈥檛 something new, they have been in place for a long time and will not have any effect.鈥�
He described the presidents鈥� video conference as 鈥渃andid and businesslike,鈥� adding that they also exchanged occasional jokes.
In a brief snippet broadcast by Russia state television, the two leaders offered friendly greetings to each other.
鈥淚 welcome you, Mr. President,鈥� Putin said, speaking with a Russian flag behind him and a video monitor showing Biden in front of him. 鈥淕ood to see you again!鈥� Biden replied with a chuckle. He noted Putin鈥檚 absence from the recent Group of 20 summit in Rome 鈥� Putin took park by video link because of concerns about COVID-19 鈥� and said, 鈥淚 hope next time we meet to do it in person.鈥�
At the White House, Sullivan said, 鈥淚t was a useful meeting,鈥� allowing Biden to lay out in candid terms where the US stands.
As the U.S. and Russian presidents conferred, Ukraine grew only more anxious about the tens of thousands of Russia troops that have been deployed near its border. Ukrainian officials charged Russia had further escalated the smoldering crisis by sending tanks and snipers to war-torn eastern Ukraine to 鈥減rovoke return fire鈥� and lay a pretext for a potential invasion.
U.S. intelligence officials have not been able to independently verify that accusation, according to an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. But the official said that the White House has directly raised concerns with the Russians about 鈥渞esorting to their old playbook鈥� by trying to provoke the Ukrainians.
The Kremlin, in a post-call readout, said, 鈥淧utin emphasized that it鈥檚 wrong to put the responsibility on Russia, since it is NATO that has been making dangerous attempts to expand its presence on the Ukrainian territory and has been expanding its military potential near Russian borders.鈥�
The Russian leader also proposed to lift all mutual restrictions on diplomatic missions and help normalize other aspects of bilateral relations, the Kremlin said. Sullivan said the leaders would direct their staffs to continue negotiations on that.
The leader-to-leader conversation 鈥� Biden speaking from the White House Situation Room, Putin from his residence in Sochi 鈥攚as one of the most important of Biden鈥檚 presidency and came at a perilous time. U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russia has massed 70,000 troops near the Ukraine border and has made preparations for a possible invasion early next year.
Sullivan said the U.S. believes that Putin has not yet made a final decision to invade.
Biden was vice president in 2014 when Russian troops marched into the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and annexed the territory from Ukraine. Aides say the Crimea episode 鈥� one of the darker moments for President Barack Obama on the international stage 鈥� looms large as Biden looks at the smoldering current crisis.
Politically in Washington, Republicans are framing this moment as a key test of Biden鈥檚 leadership on the global stage. Biden vowed as a candidate to reassert American leadership after President Donald Trump鈥檚 emphasis on an 鈥淎merica first鈥� foreign policy. But Republicans say he鈥檚 been ineffective in slowing Iran鈥檚 march toward becoming a nuclear power and has done too little to counter autocratic leaders including China鈥檚 Xi Jinping and Putin.
鈥淔ellow authoritarians in Beijing and Tehran will be watching how the free world responds,鈥� Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said from the Senate floor before the Biden-Putin meeting.
Sullivan said Biden and Putin had a 鈥済ood discussion on the Iran issue鈥� and called it an area where the two countries could cooperate.
鈥淭he more Iran demonstrates a lack of seriousness at the negotiating table,鈥� the more there will be a sense of unity among the U.S. and the parties to the 2015 nuclear accord including Russia and the European Union, he said.
Trump, who showed unusual deference to Putin during his presidency, said in a statement that 鈥淰ladimir Putin looks at our pathetic surrender in Afghanistan, leaving behind dead Soldiers, American citizens, and $85 billion worth of Military equipment. He then looks at Biden. He is not worried!鈥�
Ahead of the Putin call, Biden on Monday spoke with leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy to coordinate messaging and potential sanctions. He also to spoke with them again following his call to brief them out the outcome. Biden is also expected to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday.
Putin apparently sees the current situation as a moment to readjust the power dynamic of the U.S.-Russia relationship, analysts agree.
Beyond Ukraine, there are plenty of other thorny issues on the table, including cyberattacks and human rights. Before the call, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said U.S.-Russian relations are overall in 鈥渁 rather dire state.鈥�
鈥淩ussia has never planned to attack anyone,鈥� Peskov said. He characterized the Biden-Putin call as a 鈥渨orking conversation during a very difficult period,鈥� when 鈥渆scalation of tensions in Europe is off the scale, extraordinary.鈥�
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Litvinova reported from Moscow. Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Robert Burns, Zeke Miller and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
Aamer Madhani And Dasha Litvinova, The Associated Press
