Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden plan to hold a phone conversation this Saturday at noonconfirmed this Friday the Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, quoted by the Russia Today portal. Peskov explained that the call will take place at the US initiative.
Previously, the US president’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, had anticipated that Biden wanted to have a telephone conversation with Putin. “I hope that President Biden will get on the phone with President Putin, but I have nothing to announce to you about this right now,” he said during a news conference.
Hours before Biden had asked all US citizens to leave Ukraine in the next 48 hours Y warned that it would not send US troops and that it would not carry out evacuations as it did in Afghanistan. “Things could speed up quickly,” the president told NBC. The heads of state of the main powers that make up NATO met this Friday at the request of Washington since they consider that there is a risk of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, according to the Kremlin representative, the extensive Normandy format talks at the advisory level (France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine) have so far failed.
“I could start an invasion”
For the United States, a Russian attack on Ukraine could happen at any time.although from the White House they reiterated that they do not know if President Vladimir Putin has already made the decision to do so. “As we have said before, we are in the window where an invasion could start,” said Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to the Biden administration after US media claimed that Putin had already made the decision to invade Ukraine. Although Sullivan dismissed that version, he said the United States is “ready either way.”. “We can say that a Russian military action could happen even before the Olympics are over”assured and detailed that an offensive could begin with “air bombardments and missile attacks”.
Sullivan also underscored Biden’s request to all US citizens to leave Ukraine as much as possible in the coming days. “Any American in Ukraine should leave as soon as possible, and in any case within the next 24 to 48 hours.”he claimed. “There is no prospect of a US military evacuation in the event of a Russian invasion.”he added.
For its part, the Ukrainian government tried to tone down Biden’s warning to its citizens in Kiev. “This statement does not evidence any radical change in the situation”said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
This Friday the leaders of the main powers that make up the Western Military Alliance met before what they consider a possible attack from Moscow. Biden participated in the videoconference, and from France, Emmanuel Macron; the heads of government German, Olaf Scholz, and British, Boris Johnson; as well as the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg; the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen; and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. Polish President Andrzej Duda; the head of the Italian government, Mario Draghi; and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also participated in the virtual meeting called by Washington. According to a statement from the Western military alliance “Participants made it clear that any further Russian aggression against Ukraine would come at a high cost, and reiterated their readiness to continue dialogue with Russia.”
“No one knows what Kiev is going to do”
While the meetings at the level of advisers of the Normandy Format (France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine) ended without palpable results, said the deputy head of the Administration of the President of Russia, Dmitri Kozak. According to the Kremlin representative, the Ukrainian side refused “even to cite” the Minsk Agreements for peace in Donbass, the eastern region of Ukraine, where in 2014 the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk were self-proclaimed.
“It is complex to say to what extent Kiev is willing to resolve the Donbas conflict by military means. Let us hope that Kiev is sensible enough not to start combat actions against its own citizens who are on the other side of the line of contact. “, He said.
Kozak in turn pointed out that Germany and France understand Russia’s position regarding the need for dialogue, taking into account the opinion of the representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk, which Kiev does not recognize.“This is the key discrepancy that Ukraine refused to agree on,” he added, noting that for this reason they were unable to adopt a joint declaration at the end of the meeting, unlike the one held on January 26 in Paris. On the other hand, Kozak said that he saw no willingness on the part of Berlin and Paris to “show sufficient firmness and put pressure on Kiev on this matter.” “A large number of Ukrainian military personnel have gathered on the contact line. No one knows what Kiev is going to do. They refuse to inform”he added.
This week Moscow and Minsk began holding military exercises that will last until February 20 on Belarusian territory, near the northern border of Ukraine. According to the United States, an attack by Russia could occur around that time, when the Winter Olympics in Beijing also end. The Kremlin mobilized some 30,000 troops and weapons for the joint exercises. That same day, Kiev began conducting military exercises throughout its territory.