Biden warned Putin against the attack on Ukraine, the US will react quickly and decisively – TVNOVINY.sk

In a call to his Kremlin counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday, US President Joe Biden warned that the United States would react quickly and decisively if Russia invaded Ukraine. According to the AP and AFP agencies, the White House announced it.

According to the White House, Biden stressed that “while the United States remains ready to engage in diplomacy in full coordination with our allies and partners, we are equally prepared for other scenarios.” Biden also told Putin that a Russian invasion would “lead to widespread human suffering and downsizing Russia.”

According to an unnamed US administration official, the phone call between Biden and Putin did not bring about any fundamental change in the stalemate over Russian troops gathering near the border with Ukraine. The telephone conversation was “professional and factual and lasted a little over an hour. There has been no fundamental change in dynamics that has been going on for several weeks,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

After the call between Biden and Putin, the White House said it lasted an hour and two. “President Biden’s secure call with Russian President Putin ended at 12:06 (18:06 CET),” the White House said.

According to the RIA Novosti agency, the talks of the presidents were preceded by a meeting between the foreign and defense ministers of both countries.

RIA Novosti noted that Putin and Biden last made a phone call late last year. In addition, in early December, the talks took the form of a video conference. The main topics of these talks were the settlement of the intra-Ukrainian conflict and the provision of legal guarantees for Russia’s security.

Lavrov accused the United States of trying to provoke the conflict

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the United States on Saturday of trying to provoke a conflict in Ukraine. Lavrov did so during a phone call with his American counterpart Antony Blinken, reports AFP and TASS.

“Minister Lavrov has emphasized that the United States and its allies are pursuing provocative goals with a propaganda campaign on ‘Russian aggression’ against Ukraine, inciting the government in Kiev to sabotage the Minsk agreements and tackling the Donbas in a harmful way,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

At the same time, Lavrov warned his colleague again that the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in their responses to Moscow, had ignored Russia’s basic demands for non-enlargement and non-deployment of offensive weapons near Russia’s borders. According to Lavrov, Russia emphasized that it would be the response to these requests that it would evaluate the documents sent by the United States and the alliance.

The chief of American diplomacy said during a phone call that the diplomatic route for resolving the crisis is still open. However, it requires Russia to proceed with de-escalation and to engage in good faith in the debate, the State Department said in a statement on its official website.

In addition, Blinken reiterated the warning that if Moscow chose the path of aggression and further attack on Ukraine, it would result in a decisive, massive and united transatlantic response.

Macron to Putin: Honest dialogue is incompatible with escalating tensions

French President Emmanuel Macron told Russia’s head of state Vladimir Putin on Saturday that the sincere dialogue was incompatible with escalating tensions, the AFP reported.

The presidents’ telephone conversation – at a time of concern over the Russian invasion of Ukraine – lasted an hour and 40 minutes, Macron’s office said. Macron and Putin have expressed a desire to continue the dialogue on how to move forward with the Minsk agreements on the settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, as well as on security conditions and stability in Europe, the French president’s office added.

Putin said during the interview that allegations of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine were provocative speculation, the Kremlin said.

US President Joe Biden is due to talk to the Russian leader on Saturday, AFP reported. She noted that the weeks of tension during which Russia surrounded Ukraine with more than 100,000 troops intensified when the Kremlin launched its largest naval exercise in the Black Sea in recent years.

Exercises off the coast of Ukraine’s Odessa have increased the urgency of Saturday’s, hastily arranged call between Biden and Putin to alleviate one of the most serious crises in East-West relations since the Cold War.

Zelensky asks for proof that Russia plans to attack Ukraine on February 16

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that he wanted to see evidence that Russia plans to attack his country on February 16, UNIAN and TASS news agencies reported.

During a meeting with the media, after checking special tactical exercises in the Kherson region, Zelensky called on him to provide 100% information about a possible attack by the Russian Federation, starting on February 16, if such data is available. He added that all such information would be subject to analysis.

“There is too much information in the information space about the deep total war on the part of the Russian Federation. There is even talk of suitable dates. We understand all the risks, we understand that they exist. We are not afraid of anyone, no panic, everything is under control, “Zelenskyj emphasized.

He noted that a lot of information about a possible Russian invasion only causes panic and panic in our country is our enemy’s best friend. Zelensky is convinced that Ukraine should rely primarily on its army and its citizens and be prepared at all times. However, he emphasized that the only way to resolve the conflict was through diplomacy. “We communicate with the leadership of different states on a daily basis. Because we believe that the diplomatic path is the only way to de-escalation and de-occupation, “he added.

The Russo-Ukrainian war needs to be prevented, Orban said

The Russian-Ukrainian war must be prevented, said the Prime Minister of Hungary and Prime Minister Fidesz Viktor Orbán in the 23rd annual speech on the state of the country. The prime minister stressed that the European Union’s strategy towards Russia had failed and that sanctions against Moscow were bad.

Regarding the Ukrainian conflict, Orbán added that in the event of a military conflict, a huge wave of refugees would be launched, which would be larger than from the former Yugoslavia. According to him, due to its military and economic strength, Hungary is unable to influence the EU’s relations with Russia, but has developed its own model in which Budapest cooperates with Moscow.