Five Key Points From the Latest Putin-Biden Call

Thursday’s 50-minute call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden touched on security issues that are expected to be discussed at length next month at a series of high-level diplomatic meetings.

Here are the key points the two leaders discussed:

Biden signals compromise with Russia on Ukraine is possible

The US president has reportedly indicated that Washington is not planning to deploy “Offensive strike weapons in Ukraine”, the Kremlin said after the call. top Putin’s assistant Yury Ushakov said that obtaining a verbal commitment was “One of the key points” for Moscow, with regard to the proposals that Russia had made to the West about its security. The White House appeared to pour cold water on the claim of any promises that were made, however, stating that Biden had made “no declaration of intent” during the conversation.

Biden reveals what US will do if Russia “invades Ukraine”

Biden “clarified” that the United States and its allies “Respond decisively” if Russia tries to invade Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki noted, following the call. If Russia chooses to “Proceed with a new invasion of Ukraine”, he would face “serious” consequences, including “Economic costs”, “Adjustments and increases of [NATO’s] strong position in the allied countries ”, and “Additional aid to Ukraine”, an anonymous senior US official warned. The United States and its partners accused the Kremlin of fomenting border tensions with its neighbor, citing an alleged rise in Russian military power. Moscow has always denied speculations that it was planning an invasion.

Format of Russia-West New Year’s talks revealed

The call was designed to define what the White House called the “Tone and tenor” for a series of diplomatic meetings scheduled for the first half of January. The exchanges will take place in three formats: a Russian-American meeting to be held on January 9 and 10 in Geneva, followed by another in Brussels between Russia and NATO on January 12, and a final meeting on January 13 in level of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Putin describes Russia’s response to potential US sanctions

Responding to a threat of far-reaching sanctions in the event of measures against Ukraine, Putin noted that the imposition of further punitive measures would deal a death blow to US-Russian relations. “Unprecedented sanctions” targeting Russia’s economy and financial and military industry, if enforced, would lead to a “Complete failure” bilateral relations, Ushakov said, and such a scenario would be “a colossal mistake.”

Putin sets final goal for talks with US and NATO

During his call with Biden, Putin also laid out the security guarantees that Moscow demanded from the United States and NATO, the Kremlin said. The Russian president stressed that, while the simple act of negotiating was important, he expected concrete results from their meetings. Moscow’s ultimate goal was to obtain the necessary guarantees regarding its security, Putin told Biden, according to Ushakov. The US president appeared to agree to the request “Seriously enough” said the counselor.