President Joe Biden has accepted “in principle” a meeting with President Vladimir Putin provided Russia does not invade Ukraine, the White House has said, in a last-ditch diplomatic overture brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron to ease one of the worst security crises in Europe in decades.
The US has repeatedly warned of Russia’s plans to invade Ukraine and threatened to impose tough sanctions on Moscow if it goes ahead with its plans. However, Russia has denied that it plans to attack Ukraine.
“As the President has repeatedly made clear, we are committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on Sunday.
Psaki said that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are scheduled to meet later this week in Europe, provided Russia does not proceed with military action.
President Biden accepted in principle a meeting with President Putin following that engagement, again, if an invasion hasn’t happened. We are always ready for diplomacy, she said.
Psaki said that Biden spoke with Macron on Sunday and the two leaders discussed ongoing diplomacy and deterrence efforts in response to Russia’s military buildup on the borders of Ukraine.
According to US estimates, Russia has amassed over 150,000 in and near Ukraine, up from about 100,000 on January 30.
We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war. And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon, she said.
The development comes after Blinken in an interview to CNN said that Biden is prepared to engage with Putin in any format, at any place and time to prevent a war.
Blinken asserted that everything leading up to the actual invasion of Ukraine appears to be taking place.
“As we have described it, everything leading up to the actual invasion appears to be taking place, all of these false flag operations, all of these provocations to create justifications. All of that is already in train,” Blinken told CNN.
“We believe President Putin has made the decision, but until the tanks are actually rolling and the planes are flying, we will use every opportunity and every minute we have to see if diplomacy can still dissuade President Putin from carrying this forward, he said.
“President Biden is prepared to engage President Putin at any time, in any format, if that can help prevent a war. I reached out to my Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister (Sergey) Lavrov, to urge that we meet next week in Europe. The plan is still to do that, unless Russia invades in the meantime, Blinken said in response to a question.
