“No one shook a finger”: What statements on Ukraine did Putin and Biden exchange?
Moscow and Washington continue to report details of the negotiations between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden via video link that took place the night before.
“President Biden looked Putin in the eye and told him today that what we didn’t do in 2014, we are ready to do now... He reaffirmed America’s support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. He told President Putin directly that if Russia continues to invade Ukraine, the United States and our European allies will respond with strong economic measures,” CNN quoted US Presidential National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan as saying. However, a little later he added: “There were a lot of compromises. "Nobody shook a finger, but the President made it very clear what the United States position is on all these issues."
CNN, citing American intelligence data, claims that the Russian army has already prepared all the infrastructure (hospitals, fuel and supplies) for a long operation in Ukraine. However, Vladimir Putin has not yet decided whether to begin forcing Kyiv to peace.
The Kremlin press service confirms that Biden “emphasized the allegedly ‘threatening’ nature of Russian troop movements near the Ukrainian borders and outlined sanctions measures that the United States and its allies would be ready to apply in the event of further escalation of the situation.”
“Putin said that you Americans are concerned about our battalions on Russian territory thousands of kilometers from the United States, but we are really concerned about our security and the security of Russia in a global sense, on a global scale,” presidential aide Yuri Ushakov recounted Russian counterarguments.
He claims that Russia is not making any preparations for an attack on Ukraine. “There was no talk about this at all,” Ushakov told reporters.
“Vladimir Putin responded by emphasizing that responsibility should not be shifted onto Russia’s shoulders, since it is NATO that is making dangerous attempts to develop Ukrainian territory and is building up military potential at our borders. Therefore, Russia is seriously interested in obtaining reliable, legally recorded guarantees that exclude the expansion of NATO in the eastern direction and the deployment of strike offensive weapons systems in states neighboring Russia,” the Kremlin reports. insisting that we are talking about an “internal Ukrainian crisis.”
Putin also drew attention to the “lack of progress in the implementation of the 2015 Minsk agreements, which are the only basis for a peaceful settlement.”
“The President of Russia, using specific examples, illustrated Kyiv’s destructive line aimed at completely dismantling the Minsk agreements and agreements reached in the Normandy format, and expressed serious concern about Kiev’s provocative actions against Donbass,” the Kremlin reports.
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