by Trevor Hunnicutt and Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON / REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware (Reuters) – US President Joe Biden will hold talks with his Russian counterpart on Thursday, the White House said, as Washington continues to prepare with its European allies for a joint response to Russia’s deployment of troops at the Ukrainian border.
The two leaders will discuss a variety of topics, including upcoming security talks between Washington and Moscow, White House National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said in a statement.
The interview will begin at 3:30 p.m. US time (8:30 p.m. GMT), the White House said.
Joe Biden has spoken with several European leaders about the situation on the Ukrainian border, said Emily Horne, adding that American representatives are exchanging with NATO, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. (OSCE).
Russia has fueled West concerns and tensions with it by deploying tens of thousands of troops to the Ukrainian border for two months.
Moscow, which annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and supports separatist fighters in Donbass, in eastern Ukraine, denies any plans for an offensive and asks NATO for security guarantees.
(with Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow, Susan Heavey and Idrees Ali in Washington and Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; French version Camille Raynaud)
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