Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin had a two-hour high-risk exchange on Tuesday (December 7th), with the main issue at stake being the fear of military escalation in Ukraine.
Russian news agencies announced the end of the conversation, then the White House said the interview ended at exactly 5:08 p.m. GMT, without giving any immediate indication of the content.
The discussion between the American and Russian presidents began at 3:07 p.m. GMT sharp, according to Washington, with an exchange of courtesies broadcast by Russian television.
Read also Biden and Poutine, virtual summit in search of de-escalation
“
It's good to see you again,
” Joe Biden said.
"
I greet you, Mr. President,
" said Vladimir Poutine, smiling, seated at a long table, in front of a screen on which his counterpart appeared.
The Russian president was in his residence in Sochi, a seaside resort on the Black Sea.
The American president took part in the conversation from the “
Situation Room
” of the White House, an ultra-secure room from where the American executive controls sensitive military interventions, and closed to journalists.
His national security adviser Jake Sullivan will answer questions from the press at 19:00 GMT.
The United States, accused of going it alone during the withdrawal from Afghanistan and of carrying out certain international issues without too much regard for its allies, insists heavily on their close coordination with the Europeans and the Ukrainians.
Joe Biden will phone French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Italian Prime Ministers Mario Draghi and British Boris Johnson on Tuesday after his exchange with Vladimir Putin.
He had already spoken to these same allies on Monday and agreed to stay "
in close contact
".
Joe Biden must also, in the coming days, report on the conversation to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the US executive announced on Monday.
Military maneuvers, Moscow's bluff?
The hope of the American president to establish a "
stable
" and "
predictable
" relationship with Russia, expressed in June during a summit in person between the two men in Geneva, seems to have lived, at least for the moment.
Washington, NATO and Kiev accuse Moscow of massing troops on the border with Ukraine in order to attack the country.
The scenario is reminiscent of 2014 and the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula, then the outbreak in eastern Ukraine of an armed conflict which left more than 13,000 dead.
Read also According to Kiev and Washington, Russia could attack Ukraine this winter
The Kremlin denies any plans for an invasion. And Moscow accuses Washington of neglecting its own concerns: the increased activity of NATO countries in the Black Sea, the Ukrainian desire to join the Atlantic alliance and Kiev's ambition to arm itself with the West. "
Russia never intended to attack anyone, but we have red lines,
" Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured Monday.
Many observers, in Europe and the United States, believe that Vladimir Putin is bluffing with the deployment of forces on Ukraine's borders, but few completely rule out the possibility of an attack.
If Moscow were to take action, a senior White House official warned that the United States
would
"
respond favorably
" to a demand for an increased US military presence in Eastern Europe and provide more support for the Ukrainian military.
Reinforced diplomatic posture
Washington also wields the threat of economic sanctions against the Russian regime. And ensures that they would be more painful than those which have piled up without much effect on Russia since 2014. “
We know that the American side has an addiction to sanctions,
” the Kremlin spokesman said ironically on Tuesday. The European Union is also ready to adopt additional sanctions against Russia, warned the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday.
The holding of this virtual Biden-Putin summit is already a success for Russia, which claims to be an inescapable geopolitical power and thus at least temporarily tears the American president away from his great strategic priority, rivalry with China. It had been a few weeks since the Kremlin called for a face-to-face meeting between the two presidents. Beyond Ukraine, strategic stability and nuclear arms control, hacking and cybersecurity, and Iran's nuclear power were on the list of topics likely to be debated on Tuesday. "
It is clear that when two presidents move towards dialogue, it is because they want to discuss the problems and do not aim at an impasse,
" Dmitry Peskov noted. "
But we must notexpect breakthroughs
Immediate, he warned.