The Russian military is not a threat to Ukraine, despite its presence on the border, the Kremlin assured tonight, after a two-hour discussion between the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden.
“The Russian troops are on their territory, they are not threatening anyone, President (Putin) said so,” said Kremlin’s diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov.
Ushakov described as “strange” the question of whether Putin had assured Biden that he had no plans to send troops to Ukraine: “This was not even mentioned! Sending troops to Ukraine – how, what is it? Some kind of invasion? “It was not even mentioned,” he replied.
According to the Kremlin adviser, Biden told Putin that he would discuss with his allies the issue of NATO enlargement to the east and “all the concerns” expressed to him by his Russian counterpart.
Biden informed Putin that the US is preparing large-scale sanctions if there is a further escalation of the situation in Ukraine, he continued. Asked if reference was made to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Ushakov said the two leaders did not discuss issues related to pandemics, climate change or energy.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the way they are working together to fight cybercrime under the agreements reached at the Geneva summit, Usakov added.
No new contact was agreed upon, but earlier the possibility of a live meeting on neutral ground had been discussed by both sides. If needed, a new phone call or video call can easily be arranged, Usakov added, commenting that the two countries will need more than a year to resolve their relationship problems.
Today’s discussion lasted exactly two hours and was “honest and serious” but at the same time they sounded “funny”. “It was a normal discussion between two serious leaders when serious issues are being discussed and sensitive issues are being raised,” he said.
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