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Biden, Putin agree in principle to hold summit amid Ukraine crisis
The two leaders accepted the idea of such a meeting after French President Emmanuel Macron held separate phone talks with both of them. Preparations will be made when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meet Thursday in Europe.
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US President Joe Biden(Lleft during remarks on the implementation of the American Rescue Plan in the State Dining room of the White House in Washington, DC on March 15, 2021, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin during his working visit to Ivanovo, a town some 300 km outside Moscow, on March 6, 2020. (AFP/Eric BARADAT, Alexey NIKOLSKY )
U
S President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have agreed in principle to hold a summit, the White House said Sunday, an announcement that came amid mounting fears over Moscow's possible invasion of Ukraine.
The two leaders accepted the idea of such a meeting after French President Emmanuel Macron held separate phone talks with both of them. Preparations will be made when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meet Thursday in Europe.
But the meeting between the top US and Russian diplomats and the summit will only be held provided Russia does not proceed with military action against its neighboring country, according to the White House.
"We are committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement, while reiterating the US warning that any Russian aggression will be met with "swift and severe consequences" such as economic sanctions.
She also said Russia currently appears to be continuing preparations for "a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon."
Up to 190,000 Russian military personnel are said to have been positioned along Ukraine's borders, within Russian territory, in Belarus that has close ties with Moscow, as well as in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Russia has been asserting that its security is being threatened by the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the possibility of Ukraine's membership in the 30-country military alliance.
At the same time, Moscow has denied any intention to invade Ukraine.
Biden, however, said Friday that he is "convinced" that Putin has decided on an invasion, while noting that diplomacy is not yet off the table.
