Moscow-Sana
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden discussed, during a phone call today, developments related to the Ukraine crisis.
The White House said the call lasted 62 minutes, with Biden warning that the United States would respond firmly and impose heavy and immediate costs on Russia if it attacked Ukraine.
The White House added that Biden stressed that while the United States remains ready to resort to diplomacy in full coordination with allies, it is ready at the same time for other scenarios.
This call was preceded by a phone call between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin.
The Russian Foreign Minister also had a phone conversation with his American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, at the initiative of the American side, in addition to two calls that Putin had today with his French counterparts Emmanuel Macron and Belarusian Alexander Lukashenko.
Earlier today, Putin discussed, during a telephone conversation with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, the absence of a concrete response from Washington and NATO to the security guarantees demanded by Moscow.
It is noteworthy that on the 17th of last December, the Russian Foreign Ministry submitted draft agreements on security guarantees it expects to obtain from Washington and NATO, whereby the United States and NATO are obligated to stop expansion towards the east, specifically dropping plans to grant NATO membership to Ukraine and imposing restrictions on the deployment of dangerous offensive weapons. Including nuclear weapons.