White House and Kremlin on Biden-Putin video call

U.S. and Russian presidents held a video call on December 7, discussing a number of issues. Both the White House and the Kremlin issued statements regarding the call. The White House statement says that President Biden voiced the deep concerns of the United States and our European Allies about Russia’s escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine and made clear that the U.S. and our Allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation. President Biden reiterated his support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy. The two presidents tasked their teams to follow up, and the U.S. will do so in close coordination with allies and partners. The presidents also discussed the U.S.-Russia dialogue on Strategic Stability, a separate dialogue on ransomware, as well as joint work on regional issues such as Iran.

The Kremlin, from its part, said that Putin-Biden talks were sincere and practical. The statement said that “issues related to the internal political crisis in Ukraine and the lack of progress in the implementation of the 2015 Minsk agreements” took the lead during the conversation.

“The Russian president has set concrete examples of Kiev’s destructive line aimed at the complete dismantling of the Minsk agreements, the agreements reached in the Normandy format, and has expressed grave concern over Kiev’s provocative actions against Donbas,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

Russia also confirmed that Biden had warned during the conversation about the sanctions that the US would be ready to apply in case of aggravation of the situation on the border with Ukraine.

“Biden, in turn, stressed the allegedly threatening nature of the movement of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border, outlined sanctions, which the United States and its allies will be ready to apply in the event of further escalation of the situation,” the Kremlin said.

In response, Putin stated that NATO is making dangerous attempts to occupy the territory of Ukraine, is developing its military capabilities near the Russian border.

“Consequently, Russia is seriously interested in obtaining reliable, legally enshrined guarantees that would preclude NATO expansion to the east and the deployment of assault weapons systems in countries adjacent to Russia,” he said.

Putin also offered Washington to lift the accumulated restrictions on the work of diplomatic missions. “Russia has offered to lift all accumulated restrictions on the activities of diplomatic missions, which may serve to normalize other aspects of bilateral relations,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

This was the second talks between Putin and Biden this year. They met in person in July.