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U.S. President Joe Biden has agreed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to hold a summit on the Ukraine crisis provided Moscow does not take military action, the White House said Sunday, as Western countries continue their diplomatic efforts to prevent a war from breaking out in Europe.
Biden accepted in principle a meeting with Putin after a planned engagement between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday in Europe, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Combined photo shows U.S. President Joe Biden (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Getty/Kyodo)
The idea of a summit was proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who held separate phone talks with the U.S. and Russian leaders on Sunday.
Psaki, however, seemed to play down any optimism that the Ukraine situation is heading toward an improvement, noting that Russia currently appears to be continuing preparations for “a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon.”
“We are committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins,” she said, while reiterating the U.S. warning that any Russian aggression will be met with “swift and severe consequences” such as economic sanctions.
The meeting between the top U.S. and Russian diplomats will also only be held provided Russia does not proceed with military action against the former Soviet republic.
In phone talks held between Putin and Macron, both sides agreed on the need to find a peaceful solution but remained at odds over who was responsible for the deteriorating security situation in the Donbass region. The two leaders held another phone conversation Monday on the situation in Ukraine.
Tensions are running high in Europe with more than 150,000 Russian troops said to have been massed along Ukraine’s borders within Russian territory, in Belarus that has close ties with Moscow, as well as in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Belarus said Russian forces will remain in the country even after the scheduled end of their joint drills on Sunday, in a move that can be seen as further adding to pressure on Kyiv.
Russia has been asserting that its security is being threatened by the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the possibility of Ukraine’s membership in the 30-country military alliance.
At the same time, Moscow has denied any intention to invade Ukraine.
Biden, however, said Friday he is “convinced” that Putin has decided on an invasion, while noting that diplomacy is not yet off the table.
People wait to pass through the Shehyni checkpoint in western Ukraine to cross the border into Poland on Feb. 18, 2022, amid rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations, including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, will also meet virtually on Thursday to discuss the Ukraine situation.
“While the situation remains critical, Japan will continue to make diplomatic efforts with other countries to ease tensions,” Kishida told a parliamentary committee on Monday.
The G-7 members — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union — have been stepping up efforts to demonstrate their unity against Russia’s massive military buildup which they view as “a challenge to global security and the international order.”
They have vowed to impose “severe and unprecedented costs on the Russian economy” should Moscow push ahead with any military aggression against Ukraine.
Separately, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi and his Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak agreed in a video call that they will not accept any unilateral change in the status quo by force when they discussed the Ukraine situation.
Blaszczak affirmed that Poland will do its best to support Japan’s policy of ensuring the safety of Japanese residents in Ukraine. Poland, which borders the country’s west, is likely to become a place of refuge in the event of a Russian invasion.
Related coverage:
Biden says “convinced” Putin has decided to invade Ukraine
Russian aggression against Ukraine would incur “severe” costs: G-7
Russia to conduct massive military drills amid tensions over Ukraine
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