Biden demand Russia deescalate tension in Ukraine
ERBIL, KRG, Iraq (North Press) – US President Joe Biden urged the Russian president Vladimir Putin, on Saturday, to de-escalate and to engage in diplomacy.
This comes amid high tension over a Russian military buildup near Ukraine and calls from dozens of countries for their nationals to leave.
In a statement, the White House said that the US President discussed, in an hour-long phone call, with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, the latest developments in Ukraine, in a move to defuse tension over the Ukrainian crisis.
President Biden was clear in his phone call that if Russia undertakes a further invasion of Ukraine, “the United States together with our Allies and partners will respond decisively and impose swift and severe costs on Russia.”
“A further Russian invasion of Ukraine would produce widespread human suffering and diminish Russia’s standing,” Biden stressed to Putin.
The Kremlin said that President Putin agreed with the US President to continue the dialogue, and described the call between the two presidents as businesslike.
During the call with Biden, Putin has repeatedly denied any such plans, and denounced what he described as false information about the alleged Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the Kremlin.
US Bloomberg Agency cited officials, it described as well knowledgeable, as saying that Russia will invade Ukraine on Tuesday.
Moscow is demanding binding security guarantees from the West that includes a pledge to roll NATO forces out of eastern Europe and to never expand into Ukraine.
However, Washington flatly rejected the demands while offering to discuss a new European disarmament agreement with Moscow.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Saturday that diplomatic channels remained “open” to avoid conflict in Ukraine but would require Moscow to “deescalate,” the State Department said.
Lavrov said “the propaganda campaign unleashed by the United States and its allies concerning ‘Russian aggression’ against Ukraine pursues provocative goals,” the Russian foreign ministry said.
Lavrov accused the US of seeking to provoke a conflict in Ukraine, during the call.
Multiple European and Asian countries have taken steps to evacuate some of their diplomats and their families out of Ukraine. They warned their citizens from travelling to Ukraine in the wake of continuous western warnings of Russia’s potential attack of Ukraine.