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Tensions Defused in Putin-Biden Teleconference, No Russian Plans to Invade Ukraine

January 2, 2022

 

The presidents of the US and Russia held a 50-minute phone call late on Thursday, December 30, 2022 bbc

Ukraine tensions: Putin tells Biden new sanctions could rupture ties

BBC, 31 December 2021

Russia's Vladimir Putin has warned his US counterpart Joe Biden that imposing new sanctions over Ukraine could lead to a complete breakdown in relations.

In a phone call late on Thursday, the Russian president said such sanctions would be a "colossal mistake".

Mr. Biden, meanwhile, told Mr. Putin that the US and its allies would respond decisively to any invasion of Ukraine.

The call, requested by Russia, was the pair's second such conversation this month and lasted for almost an hour.

It marked the latest effort to defuse tensions over Ukraine's eastern border with Russia, where Ukrainian officials say more than 100,000 Russian troops have been sent.

The build-up has prompted concern in the West, with the US threatening Mr. Putin with sanctions "like none he's ever seen" if Ukraine comes under attack.

Russia, however, denies it is planning to invade the country and says the troops are there for exercises. It says it is entitled to move its troops freely on its own soil.

Although the two sides exchanged warnings during the call, Russian foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters shortly after that Mr Putin was "pleased" with the conversation. He added that it had created a "good backdrop" for future talks.

A senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the tone had been "serious and substantive."

"President Biden reiterated that substantive progress in these dialogues can occur only in an environment of de-escalation," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

"He made clear that the United States and its allies and partners will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine," she added.

US and Russian officials are set to meet for in-person talks in Geneva next month, and the White House said Mr Biden urged his Russian counterpart to pursue a diplomatic solution.

In a holiday message before Thursday's call, Mr Putin told Mr Biden he was "convinced" the pair could work together based on "mutual respect and consideration of each other's national interests".

His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow was "in the mood for a conversation".

"We believe that only through talks is it possible to solve all the immediate problems that we have in abundance between us," Mr Peskov added.

Deep concern in Washington

White House officials sound calm when they talk about Ukraine, at least while speaking outside of the West Wing.

The phone call between President Biden and President Putin on Thursday, as a senior administration official told reporters in the early evening, was "a serious, substantive, conversation".

That official spoke in a measured voice about the talks, and sounded even-tempered when he spoke about the threat from Russia. Behind the scenes, though, he and others in the White House are deeply worried about a possible invasion of Ukraine.

The signs from Russia are "ominous", as one insider told me, and so the diplomatic pace has been stepped up.

On Thursday, at least, the two leaders were talking and those at the White House see this as a positive sign. For now. they are trying to do everything they can to make sure they keep talking into the new year.

Ukraine's defence minister told parliament at the start of December that Russia had massed tens of thousands of troops near the border, and could be gearing up for a large-scale military offensive at the end of January.

Russia has argued the military build-up at the border is a protective measure against Nato, the Western military alliance. It wants legally binding guarantees that Nato will not expand further east, and that certain weapons will not be sent to Ukraine or any neighbouring countries.

The US has rejected what it styles as a Kremlin bid to control the future of independent countries.

Ukraine has not been offered NATO membership, but has close ties with the bloc.

Media caption, Russian troop build-up: View from Ukraine front line

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine are nothing new. In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and soon after started to back a separatist insurgency in Ukraine's east that has seen some 14,000 people killed in periodic fighting.

Washington and its European allies have warned Russia to expect severe economic sanctions if troops do cross into Ukraine again.

Ukraine tensions: Putin tells Biden new sanctions could rupture ties - BBC News

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Putin warns Biden of 'complete breakdown' in US-Russian relations

Washington appears to have acknowledged some of Moscow's security concerns, but situation remains tense

By Bryan MacDonald

Russia TV, December 30, 2022

The Kremlin has revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has told his US counterpart Joe Biden that the introduction of new "unprecedented" sanctions could lead to a complete rupture of relations between the countries.

The presidents spoke by conference call, on Thursday, amid continuing tensions between Moscow and the West over Ukraine. The US and its allies have repeatedly sounded the alarm about the potential of a Russian invasion of its neighbor, citing an alleged buildup of troops within the country’s own borders. The Kremlin has dismissed the speculation as baseless, insisting it harbors no intention whatsoever of attacking its fellow former Soviet republic.

Biden apparently doubled down on the allegation, however, threatening to impose wide-ranging sanctions aimed at crippling Russia’s economy, its financial sector, and its military industry were there to be any “further escalation of the situation along the Ukrainian border,” Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov outlined.

If Washington followed through with this threat, it should be prepared for a total collapse of its already strained relationship with Moscow, he noted.

“If the West, under any pretext, decides to impose these unprecedented sanctions, it could lead to a complete breakdown of relations between our countries, and would deal a very serious blow to Russia-West relations as a whole,” Ushakov added.

He went on to assert that a new round of US sanctions would be a “colossal mistake” that should be avoided at all costs, including for the sake of future generations.

It also emerged that the American leader had apparently made a pledge not to supply assault weaponry to Ukraine.

“Biden made it clear that the US does not intend to deploy offensive strike weapons in Ukraine,” Ushakov outlined.

He explained that this had been one of the goals Moscow had hoped to achieve via the proposals for security guarantees it made to the US and NATO, earlier this month. 

During the 50-minute call, Putin once again outlined the main principles of Russia’s security requirements, which envisage a halt to NATO’s eastward expansion. The Russian leader reportedly stressed that any potential deal with the West should include legally binding guarantees as to Russia’s security, with Ushakov noting that Biden appeared to have taken that demand "quite seriously.”

The Biden administration nonetheless refused to confirm that the US leader had made any commitments during his conversation with Putin. “We are not going to draw conclusions, and there were certainly no declarations as to intentions from this conversation. But, regardless, our focus is really on actions and on indicators – not on words, at this point,” a White House official said shortly after the conversation concluded. 

The Kremlin revealed that security talks would be held in three formats: Between Moscow and Washington in Geneva, at the Russia-NATO level in Brussels, and at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna. The bilateral meetings will begin on January 9.

Putin warns Biden of 'complete breakdown' in US-Russian relations — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union

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Biden talks sanctions, Putin warns of rupture over Ukraine

By AAMER MADHANI and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV

December 30, 2021

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) —

President Joe Biden warned Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Thursday that the U.S. could impose new sanctions against Russia if it takes further military action against Ukraine, while Putin responded that such a U.S. move could lead to a complete rupture of ties between the nations.

The two leaders spoke frankly for nearly an hour amid growing alarm over Russia’s troop buildup near Ukraine, a crisis that has deepened as the Kremlin has stiffened its insistence on border security guarantees and test-fired hypersonic missiles to underscore its demands.

Further U.S. sanctions “would be a colossal mistake that would entail grave consequences,” said Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov, who briefed reporters in Moscow after the Biden-Putin phone conversation. He added that Putin told Biden that Russia would act as the U.S. would if offensive weapons were deployed near American borders.

White House officials offered a far more muted post-call readout, suggesting the leaders agreed there are areas where the two sides can make meaningful progress but also differences that might be impossible to resolve.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden “urged Russia to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine” and “made clear that the United States and its allies and partners will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine.”

Putin requested the call, the second between the leaders this month, ahead of scheduled talks between senior U.S. and Russian officials Jan. 9 and 10 in Geneva. The Geneva talks will be followed by a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council on Jan. 12 and negotiations at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna on Jan. 13.

White House officials said Thursday’s call lasted 50 minutes, ending after midnight in Moscow.

Biden told Putin the two powers now face “two paths”: diplomacy or American deterrence through sanctions, according to a senior administration official. Biden said the route taken, according to the official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, will “depend on Russia’s actions in the period ahead.”

Russia has made clear it wants a written commitment that Ukraine will never be allowed to join NATO and that the alliance’s military equipment will not be positioned in former Soviet states, demands that the Biden administration has rejected.

Biden told Putin a diplomatic path remains open even as the Russians have moved an estimated 100,000 troops toward Ukraine and Kremlin officials have turned up the volume on their demands for new guarantees from the U.S. and NATO.

White House officials said Biden made clear that the U.S. stands ready to exact substantial economic pain through sanctions should Putin decide to take military action in Ukraine.

He “noted that it would be a mistake that our ancestors would see as a grave error. A lot of mistakes have been made over the past 30 years, and we would better avoid more such mistakes in this situation,” Ushakov said.

Russia’s demands are to be discussed during the talks in Geneva, but it remains unclear what, if anything, Biden would be willing to offer Putin in exchange for defusing the crisis.

Draft security documents Moscow submitted demand that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

The U.S. and its allies have refused to offer Russia the kind of guarantees on Ukraine that Putin wants, citing NATO’s principle that membership is open to any qualifying country. They agreed, however, to hold talks with Russia to discuss its concerns.

The security proposal by Moscow has raised the question of whether Putin is making unrealistic demands in the expectation of a Western rejection that would give him a pretext to invade.

Steven Pifer, who served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine in the Clinton administration, said the Biden administration could engage on some elements of Russia’s draft document if Moscow is serious about talks.

Meanwhile, key NATO members have made clear there is no appetite for expanding the alliance in the near future. The U.S. and allies could also be receptive to language in the Russians’ draft document calling for establishing new consultative mechanisms, such as the NATO-Russia Council and a hotline between NATO and Russia.

“The draft treaty’s proposed bar on any NATO military activity in Ukraine, eastern Europe, the Caucasus, or Central Asia is an overreach, but some measures to limit military exercises and activities on a reciprocal basis might be possible,” Pifer, who is now a senior fellow at Brookings Institution, wrote in an analysis for the Washington think tank.

Biden and Putin, who met in Geneva in June to discuss an array of tensions in the U.S.-Russia relationship, are not expected to take part in the January talks.

Last week, Russia test-fired Zircon hypersonic missiles, a move Russian officials said was meant to help make Russia’s push for security guarantees “more convincing.” The test was the first time Zircon missiles were launched in a salvo, indicating the completion of tests before the new missile enters service with the Russian navy next year and arms its cruisers, frigates and submarines.

U.S. intelligence earlier this month determined that Russian planning was underway for a possible military offensive that could begin as soon as early 2022, but that Putin had yet to determine whether to move forward with it.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s Security and Defense Council, said Thursday his country believes there is no immediate threat of a major Russian invasion.

“Our experts say that the Russian Federation just physically can’t mount a big invasion of our territory,” Danilov said. “There is a time period needed for preparations.”

The U.S. military has flown surveillance flights in Ukrainian airspace this week, including a flight Thursday by an Air Force E-8C JSTARS aircraft, according to Chuck Pritchard, a spokesman for U.S. European Command. That plane is equipped to provide intelligence on ground forces.

Russia has denied any intention of launching an invasion and, in turn, has accused Ukraine of hatching plans to try to reclaim control of territories held by Moscow-backed rebels by force. Ukraine has rejected the claim.

At the same time, Putin has warned that Moscow will have to take “adequate military-technical measures” if the West continues its “aggressive” course “on the threshold of our home.”

Last month, Putin voiced concern that NATO could potentially use the Ukrainian territory for the deployment of missiles that would be capable of reaching Moscow in just five minutes and said that Zircon would give Russia a comparable capability.

As Biden prepared for the talks with Putin, the administration also sought to highlight its commitment to Ukraine and drive home that Washington is committed to the “principle of nothing about you without you” in shaping policy that affects European allies. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Past military incursions by Putin loom large.

In 2014, Russian troops marched into the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and seized the territory from Ukraine. Russia’s annexation of Crimea was one of the darker moments for President Barack Obama on the international stage.

The U.S.-Russia relationship was badly damaged near the end of President George W. Bush’s administration after Russia’s 2008 invasion of its neighbor Georgia after Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili ordered his troops into the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Biden, who is spending the week in his home state of Delaware, spoke to Putin from his home near Wilmington. The White House distributed a photo of the president speaking to the Russian leader from a desk lined with family photos.

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Vladimir Isachenkov reported from Moscow. Associated Press writers Dasha Litvinova in Moscow, Robert Burns in Washington and Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

Biden talks sanctions, Putin warns of rupture over Ukraine | AP News

 

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