INTERNATIONAL: President Joe Biden has said on Friday that he told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that a move on Ukraine will draw sanctions and an increased U.S. presence in Europe, where tensions are high after Russia's military buildup at the border.
The U.S. and Russian leaders have exchanged warnings over Ukraine in a 50-minute call on Thursday to address Russian military actions.
Presiden Biden has made clear to President Putin that if he makes any more moves, if he goes into Ukraine, U.S. will have severe sanctions. They will increase their presence in Europe, with their NATO allies, and there will be a heavy price to pay for it.
Biden says Putin has agreed on "three major conferences" next month with senior staff to help find a resolution and has said he expected progress from those negotiations. However, he added he made it clear that it only could work if Putin de-escalated tensions.
Asked if Moscow faces sanctions if it kept troops on the border, Biden has answered he won’t negotiate in public but they made it clear that Putting cannot, emphasizing cannot, move on Ukraine.
Biden will reaffirm support for Ukraine, discuss Russia’s military buildup and review preparations for diplomatic efforts to calm the situation in the region.
The Biden-Putin exchange set the stage for lower-level engagement between the countries in encounters such as the U.S.-Russia security meeting on the 9 and 10 of January, followed by a Russia-NATO session on 12th January and a broader conference including Moscow, Washington and other European countries on January 13.
American State Department has stated U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has sought to lay the groundwork for those talks on Friday in calls with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
In conversations with the foreign ministers of Canada and Italy, Blinken has discussed a united response to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine.
