US President Joe Biden, during a video summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, December 7, threatened “tough sanctions, including economic ones” in the event of a military escalation of the conflict with Ukraine. Biden expressed “deep concern” for both the US administration and US allies over the pulling of Russian troops to the border with Ukraine, the White House said.
According to Washington, Biden and Putin also discussed cybersecurity and the nuclear conflict with Iran. The negotiations lasted just over two hours. After the video summit, Joe Biden intends to discuss its results with European allies, the US administration said.
Meanwhile, Washington agreed with Germany to close the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the event of a Russian military aggression against Ukraine. This measure was announced by the representative of the US administration in Congress, writes Reuters, citing informed sources.
The Kremlin announced its intention to remove restrictions on the work of diplomatic missions
In turn, the Kremlin said that during his talks with Biden, Putin announced dangerous NATO attempts to conquer Ukrainian territory. He “expressed serious concern about Kiev’s provocative actions against Donbass,” writes TASS. In addition, Putin has come up with an initiative “to nullify all the accumulated restrictions on the functioning of diplomatic missions,” Interfax points out.
The parties also expressed their intention to “continue the dialogue and necessary contacts,” and also stressed the importance of the dialogue on combating cybercrime, further stated in Moscow.
Private online summit
The video summit of Biden and Putin took place against the backdrop of the threat of an escalation of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The negotiations were held in a regime closed to the media. On the eve of the online meeting, it was reported that the head of the White House intends to discuss with Putin the situation around a significant increase in the concentration of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine, as well as warn Moscow about the serious economic consequences for it in the event of an attack on Ukraine.
A White House spokesman said earlier that the United States and European allies have developed a powerful package of sanctions against Russia in the event of such an invasion. According to media reports, the largest Russian banks may fall under penalties, in addition, Russia may be restricted from converting the ruble into the dollar and other currencies. On the eve of the summit with Putin, Biden held talks with Acting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British and Italian Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Mario Draghi.
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