Biden and Putin exchange warnings in a "serious and substantive" call

U.S. President Joe Biden in a 50 minutes long call with Vladimir Putin yesterday warned the Kremlin that Washington will respond "decisively" if Moscow invades Ukraine, TURAN's U.S. correspondent reports.

Biden urged his Russian counterpart to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine, and reiterated that "substantive progress in these dialogues can occur only in an environment of de-escalation rather than escalation" according to a readout from White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

The Kremlin, in its turn, insisted on Thursday that Putin had used the call to "issue a threat of his own", telling Biden that new sanctions could totally rupture ties between Moscow and Washington and represent a colossal mistake.

While this call took place at the government of Russia's request, "it's consistent with our view that head of state engagements" a senior Biden administration official told reporters following the presidential call, explaining that the primary purpose of the call was to “set the tone and tenor” for upcoming security negations between the two countries. 

The tone of the conversation between Biden and Putin was "serious and substantive" the official said. "They each framed their positions as they've done in previous calls and also as they have done publicly."

Biden "laid out two paths, two aspects of the U.S. approach that will really depend on Russia's actions in the period ahead. One is a path of diplomacy leading toward a de-escalation of the situation, and the other is a path that's more focused on deterrence, including serious costs and consequences should Russia choose to proceed with a further invasion of Ukraine", the official added. "And those costs include economic costs, including adjustments and augmentations of NATO force posture in Allied countries, and additional assistance to Ukraine to enable it to further defend itself and its territory, as we’ve laid out previously."

Officials from Washington and Moscow are slated to meet on Jan. 10 in Geneva to discuss Moscow’s stepped-up security demands. That same week, Russian officials will also meet with NATO and the OSCE’s Permanent Council.

Moving forward, the U.S. will take the next week to 10 days to continue its  “intensive period” of consultations with allies and the Ukrainian government, the official said, which would include briefing NATO Allies and partners.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.