Biden and Putin will have a telephone conversation tomorrow

US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will hold a telephone conversation tomorrow, the White House and the Kremlin have announced, as Washington seeks to work with its European allies to coordinate its response to the rally. Russian military forces on the border with Ukraine.

The two leaders will discuss a range of issues, including the upcoming security talks between their countries, said White House National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horn. According to Horn, Biden spoke with other European leaders about the situation on the Ukrainian border, while US officials are in contact with NATO, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

The West is worried about the gathering of thousands of Russian troops near Ukraine in the last two months, following the occupation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and the support it says Moscow is offering to separatists in eastern Ukraine. Russia denies planning an attack on Ukraine and says it has the right to move its troops to its territory as it wishes.

Concerned about the “rearmament”, as it says of Ukraine from the West, Moscow is seeking legally binding guarantees that NATO will not expand further east and that some offensive weapons will not be deployed in Ukraine and other neighboring countries.

U.S. concerns have not waned in recent weeks, said a Biden government official, who asked not to be named. “We are in a period of crisis for a few weeks now and we will need a top-level commitment to address it and find a way out of this crisis,” he said.

According to this official, the Russian president was the one who requested the telephone communication with Biden. “When President Biden asked to speak with President Putin during 2021, President Putin said, ‘Yes, let’s talk.’ “, he stated.

Biden is likely to reiterate tomorrow that the United States will take financial action against Russia in the event of an invasion of Ukraine and strengthen NATO. But lately, the American president has been promoting diplomacy as an alternative.

Another official said Biden was likely to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky soon. State Department spokesman Anthony Blinken, who spoke with the Ukrainian leader on Wednesday, expressed US “unwavering support” for Ukraine’s independence, his spokesman said.

Asked if he would meet with Putin on Tuesday, January 10, the same day that US and Russian officials will begin security talks, Biden said “we will see”. According to US officials, however, Biden is not expected to attend the talks or meet with Putin that day.

Other issues, such as the ongoing talks on Iran’s nuclear program, may be on the agenda tomorrow.