by Jarrett Renshaw
WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) -US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin spoke for the second time this month on Thursday amid heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow over the massive deployment of Russian troops at the border with Ukraine.
The telephone interview, organized at the request of Vladimir Putin according to US officials, started at 8:35 p.m. GMT. It lasted 50 minutes, the White House reported.
A range of topics were to be raised by the two leaders, including the upcoming security talks between Washington and Moscow.
By deploying tens of thousands of troops to the Ukrainian border for two months, Russia has fueled the concerns of the Western powers and the tensions with them.
Russia, 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.
It is highly likely that Joe Biden reminded Vladimir Putin of the unprecedented economic measures that Washington plans to take against Russia in the event of an invasion of Ukraine, after warning him during a more early this month.
However, the American president continues to lead direct diplomatic efforts to find a solution to the crisis.
American and Russian representatives are due to take part in discussions on January 10 on the military activities of their respective countries and the situation in Ukraine, before a meeting on January 12 between Russia and NATO.
Moscow has set Ukraine’s eventual NATO membership as a “red line” and wants guarantees from the Alliance that it will not expand to the east or deploy weapons systems offensives in the region.
(French version Jean Terzian)
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