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President Joe Biden Will Speak With President Putin as Russia’s Presence Near Ukraine Intensifies

(WILMINGTON, Del.) — Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will speak by phone on Thursday about the Russian troop buildup near Ukraine, a new round of leader-to-leader talks that come as the Kremlin has stepped up its calls for security guarantees and test fired hypersonic missiles to underscore its demands.

Putin asked for the call. This is the second meeting between leaders this month ahead of the scheduled talks between high-ranking U.S. officials and Russian officials, set for January 10th in Geneva.

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 made clear are non-starters.
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According to the White House, Biden will reiterate to Putin that there is a diplomatic route even though Russia has sent an estimated 100,000 soldiers towards Ukraine. Officials from Kremlin have increased their demands for additional guarantees by the U.S. or NATO.

These are the demands that will be discussed at the Geneva talks. It is unclear, however, what Biden might offer Putin for the sake of defusing the crisis.

Moscow requested that NATO withdraw its membership of Ukraine and the other ex-Soviet countries, and reduce its military presence 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. However, they agreed to meet with Russia to address its concerns.

Moscow’s security proposal has raised questions about Putin’s unrealistic expectations in expectation of Western rejection. This would provide him with a pretext for an invasion.

Steven Pifer, a career foreign service officer 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.

NATO member countries have stated that there are no plans to increase the size of the alliance. 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 will reiterate to Putin that for there to be “real progress” in the talks they must be conducted in “a context of de-escalation rather than escalation,” according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters before the call. An anonymous source spoke under condition.

The call was set up on Putin’s initiative, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.

“The goal of the conversation is clear — to continue discussing the issues that were on the agenda during the recent conversation via video conference,” Peskov told reporters. That Dec. 7 call focused on the Russian troop movements, which have unsettled Ukraine and other European allies, as well as Moscow’s demand for security guarantees.

Peskov noted that since that call, Moscow submitted its security proposals to U.S. and European officials and now “from our point of view, from the point of view of President Putin, the need has arisen for another telephone conversation, which would preface the upcoming talks.”

Biden and Putin met in Geneva last June to talk about tensions in America-Russia relations. They are unlikely to participate in January’s talks.

Biden informed Moscow that the invasion of Ukraine could result in sanctions, which would cause severe economic harm to Russia. This was stated by the White House during the video call on December 7. Russian officials denied the threats of sanction.

Last week, Russia test-fired Zircon hypersonic missiles, a provocative move that Peskov 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.

In the days following the Geneva talks, representatives from NATO and Moscow are likely to meet. Russia and NATO, which also includes the United States, are also expected to be there.

Russia denies any intent to invade and accuses Ukraine of planning to take back the territory held by Moscow-backed rebels. Ukraine denies the claims.

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

As Biden prepared for the talks with Putin, the administration also sought to highlight the 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.

The Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Volodymyr Zeleskyy on Wednesday. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Blinken “reiterated the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s borders.”

In Thursday’s call, Biden is expected to stress to Putin that the U.S. is united with its allies but will demonstrate a willingness to engage in “principled diplomacy” with Russia, the administration official said.

However, past Russian military incursions are still a significant part of history.

Russian forces invaded the Black Sea peninsula in Crimea, capturing the land 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.

The two leaders are also expected during Thursday’s call to discuss efforts to persuade Iran to return to the 2015 nuclear accord, which was effectively scrapped by the Trump administration.

Officials from the White House have stated that despite differences over Ukraine and other matters, they feel the Iran nuclear problem is an area where the U.S. can cooperate with Russia.

Biden will be spending this week in Delaware and talk to Putin near his Wilmington residence.

Ahead of the call, Putin sent a telegram to Biden with New Year’s and Christmas wishes, which was posted on the Kremlin site on Thursday, along with other holiday messages to world leaders.

“I am convinced that in the development of our agreements reached during the June summit in Geneva and subsequent contacts that we can move forward and establish an effective Russian-American dialogue based on mutual respect and in consideration of each other’s national interests,” Putin wrote.

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