MOSCOW (AP) 鈥� President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak in a video call Tuesday as tensions between the U.S. and Russia escalate over a seen as a sign of a potential invasion.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed plans on Saturday to Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti and said it will take place in the evening. Peskov added that 鈥渢he presidents will decide themselves鈥� how long the conversation will last.
White House did not immediately comment on the announcement.
Russia is more adamant than ever that . U.S. intelligence officials, meanwhile, have determined that Russia has massed about 70,000 troops near its border with Ukraine and as soon as early next year, according to a Biden administration official who was not authorized to discuss that finding publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The risks for Putin of going through with such an invasion would be enormous.
U.S. officials and former American diplomats say while the Russian president is clearly Ukraine鈥檚 military is better armed and prepared today than in the past, and that sanctions threatened by the West would do serious damage to the Russian economy.
鈥淲hat I am doing is putting together what I believe to be, will be, the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do,鈥� Biden said Friday.
Ukrainian officials have said Russia could invade next month. Ukraine鈥檚 defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said the number of Russian troops near Ukraine and in Russia-annexed Crimea is estimated at 94,300, and warned that a 鈥渓arge-scale escalation鈥� is possible in January.
Ukraine鈥檚 president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, recently charged that and that the plotters tried to enlist the help of Ukraine鈥檚 richest man, Rinat Akhmetov.
Russia and Akhmetov have denied that any plot is underway, but the Russians have become more explicit recently in their warnings to Ukraine and the United States.
Biden is tentatively also scheduled to speak with Zelenskyy in the coming week, according to a person close to the Ukrainian leader. This person was not authorized to comment publicly before the announcement of the call and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Kremlin said Friday that Putin, during his call with Biden, would seek binding guarantees precluding NATO鈥檚 expansion to Ukraine. Biden tried to head off the demand in comments to reporters Friday before leaving for a weekend stay at Camp David.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 accept anyone鈥檚 red line,鈥� Biden said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that the administration would coordinate with European allies if it moved forward with sanctions. She alluded to Russia鈥檚 2014 annexation of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that had been under Ukraine鈥檚 control since 1954. Russia has also backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in a 7-year conflict that has cost over 14,000 lives.
鈥淲e know what President Putin has done in the past,鈥� Psaki said. 鈥淲e see that he is putting in place the capacity to take action in short order.鈥�
U.S.-Russia relations have been rocky since Biden took office.
His administration has imposed sanctions against Russian targets and called out Putin for the Kremlin鈥檚 interference in U.S. elections, cyberactivity against American companies and the treatment of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who was poisoned last year and later imprisoned.
, Biden warned that if Russia crossed certain red lines 鈥� including going after major American infrastructure 鈥� his administration would respond and 鈥渢he consequences of that would be devastating.鈥�
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Madhani and Long reported from Washington.
Dasha Litvinova, Aamer Madhani And Colleen Long, The Associated Press
