War clouds over Ukraine; Biden, Putin to speak

Washington: Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin are set to discuss the Russian troop buildup near Ukraine on Thursday during their second call in recent weeks amid little progress toward ending the smoldering crisis.

The White House indicated that Biden would make clear to Putin that a diplomatic path remains open even as the Russians have moved an estimated 100,000 troops toward Ukraine and Putin has stepped up his demands for security guarantees precluding NATO from expanding to Ukraine.

Those demands are to be discussed by senior U.S. and Russian officials during talks on Jan. 10 in Geneva.

But 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. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity.

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 has 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.”

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

In the Dec. 7 video call, the White House said Biden put Moscow on notice that an invasion of Ukraine would bring sanctions and enormous harm to the Russian economy. Russian officials have dismissed the sanction threats.

Moscow and NATO representatives are expected to meet shortly after the upcoming Geneva talks as are Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which includes the United States.

The draft security documents Moscow submitted demand that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back its military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. —(AP)