January 3, 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday afternoon, December 30, again warned Russian President Vladimir Putin of painful economic consequences, should Russian forces invade Ukraine, reports NPR.
But Biden also made clear that the United States sees a diplomatic path forward to address some of Russia’s concerns about the expansion of the Western-backed NATO in the region.
An Administration official who asked to have his name withheld said the purpose of the call, which Putin requested, was primarily to set the “tone and tenor” for planned security talks between U.S. and Russian officials on January 10 in Geneva.
It was the second time the two leaders spoke during December, as Russia has assembled as many as 100,000 troops along the Ukrainian border, prompting fears of an invasion.
Another Administration official has described the situation as a “moment of crisis.” U.S. officials say they have not seen any significant signs of de-escalation.
“President Biden urged Russia to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement after the call. “He made clear that the United States and its allies and partners will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine.”
The 50-minute call was “serious and substantive,” according to the administration official who briefed reporters on Thursday.
But both leaders acknowledged areas where “meaningful progress” could be made, as well as some areas “where agreements may be impossible,” the official said.
Putin aide Yuri Ushakov described the talks as good and frank, but said that Putin warned Biden that his promise of punishing sanctions could lead to a complete breakdown in U.S.-Russian relations that would in the future be seen as a big mistake.
The U.S. and its allies have refused any such guarantees, but White House officials said they were open to hearing Russia’s concerns about NATO.
In addition to economic sanctions, Biden told Putin in their earlier call, on December 7, that if Russia were to invade Ukraine, the U.S. would provide additional defensive equipment and supplies to the Ukraine—and potentially deploy U.S troops to other nearby Eastern European countries.
U.S. and Russian leaders will lay out their concerns during the January 10 talks. Moscow is expected to continue the conversation with NATO officials two days later and then after, on January 13, tp meet separately with the members of the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE), of which Ukraine is a member.
Whether there is a resolution that can satisfy Putin’s demands and avoid war is unclear.
Samuel Charap, who was a top Russia adviser in the Obama Administration, is not optimistic. “I don’t yet see a pathway out of this where everyone can go home and there’s no conflict,” said Charap, who is now an analyst at the Rand Corporation. “It seems clear to me that Putin is not willing to take away the threat until he gets something. And if he doesn’t get something, I think he seems prepared to act.”
That Putin called for Thursday’s call led some to believe that he may be seeking a way out of the stand-off.
The Biden official told reporters that Putin did not share if he had made a decision on whether he would invade Ukraine.”We’re not going to draw conclusions and there were certainly no declarations as to intention from this conversation,” the official said. “But regardless, our focus is really on action, and on indicators, not on words at this point.”
Research contact: @NPR
