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US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will have a conversation in which they will address the growing tension on the border between Russia and Ukraine, as a result of the concentration of thousands of Russian soldiers in the separation between the two countries.
On December 29, the spokeswoman for the National Security Council of the United States, Emily Horne, reported that the president of the country will hold a conversation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Thursday, in order to address the situation on the Ukrainian border.
A senior official in the Biden Administration – who asked not to be named – indicated in a conference call with journalists that the call was made at the request of Moscow.
“When President Biden asked to speak to President Putin in the course of 2021, President Putin said, ‘yes, let’s talk.’ And when President Putin says, ‘I’m interested in having a phone call,’ President Biden says’ yes, ‘”said the official.
The call was also confirmed by Moscow. According to the Reuters news agency, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was militant to say that it was scheduled for “Thursday night”, without giving further details.
The US reiterates its readiness to help Ukraine militarily
On the same day, Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States, had a call with Volodímir Zelenski, the president of Ukraine. In this conversation, Blinken reiterated the “unwavering support of the US for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
For his part, the senior US official who anonymously addressed the press on Wednesday also assured that Washington would be willing to strengthen Ukraine’s military defense in the event of a Russian invasion, a hypothesis that has twitched the nerves of the West in the last weeks and which the Kremlin denies.
“We are prepared to provide Ukraine with further assistance to defend its territory and respond to a potential Russian occupation in the coming weeks,” said the official, whose name has not been released.
Although the US president has promoted diplomatic channels to mitigate the tension, his Administration has been clear that it could impose economic sanctions on Moscow or even boost its support for NATO in the event of an invasion of Ukrainian territory.
In the interest of seeking regional cooperation, Horne also said that Biden has recently spoken with European leaders and that officials from his administration have been in contact with NATO, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The presence of Russian troops, the source of tension with the West
In the last two months, Moscow has concentrated tens of thousands of troops on the Ukrainian border, something that has alarmed the West, as it considers that it may be a possible attack on the neighboring country.
Putin, for his part, denies having plans to attack Ukraine and blames NATO for the current military tension due to its expansion ever closer to Russian territory. Six days ago, at his annual press conference, the Russian president demanded from the United States and NATO “immediate security guarantees” and asked the military organization not to include Ukraine among its members.
The recent tension between Russia and Ukraine climaxed in 2014, when Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula. Since then, separatists have been fighting Kiev troops in eastern Ukraine, while the latter continues to claim sovereignty over the annexed territory.
The conversation between Biden and Putin will take place 23 days after a video conference by the two leaders, in which Biden warned that he would respond to a possible Russian attack on Ukraine “with strong economic measures” that could include the suspension of the Russian Nord gas pipeline. Stream 2, planned to transport gas from Russia to German territory.
It is also held two weeks before Russian and US officials hold a joint summit in which the presence of both leaders is not confirmed and which will take place on January 10. After that, a meeting between Russia and NATO is scheduled for January 12, followed by another summit on January 13 in which Moscow, Washington and other European countries will participate.
With EFE and Reuters
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