US President Joe Biden agreed to meet with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin if Russia “does not invade Ukraine,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on February 20.
She stressed that the American leader has repeatedly voiced Washington’s position on the readiness for peaceful cooperation with Moscow until the Kremlin makes a final decision to “invade” Ukrainian territory.
“As the President has repeatedly made clear [США Джо Байден], we are committed to diplomatic engagement until the invasion begins. President Biden has agreed in principle to meet with President Putin again if there is no invasion,” she told reporters at a briefing.
According to Psaki, the American leader is ready to meet with the Russian President after the talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, which should take place “this week in Europe, if Russia does not take military action.”
Earlier in the day, the press service of the Elysee Palace reported that French President Emmanuel Macron invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and United States President Joe Biden to hold a bilateral summit.
In addition, it became known that the agenda of the summit will be prepared by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a meeting on February 24 on security guarantees.
On February 19, Blinken said that Russia’s position in responding to Washington’s security proposals in Europe ran counter to key US principles. In particular, we are talking about the need to stop the open door policy of NATO and return the alliance to the positions of 1997.
As Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov pointed out, Washington’s claims that Russia is responsible for the escalation in the situation around Ukraine are an attempt to put pressure on Moscow and devalue its security proposals in Europe.
On Friday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he did not consider the prospect of Russian troops to invade Ukraine a “bluff”. According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin gathered at the border everything that “would be needed for a successful invasion” of the country.
Prior to that, on February 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published a written response on security guarantees, handed on Thursday to US Ambassador John Sullivan. The department noted that the United States ignored the package nature of the security guarantees proposed by Russia, from which “convenient” topics were deliberately chosen in the direction of creating advantages for the States and their allies. In the response transmitted to Washington, the Russian side, in particular, stressed the unacceptability of the demands to withdraw troops from certain regions of Russia.
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements between Russia, the United States and NATO on security guarantees. The document assumes, in particular, non-expansion of NATO to the east, withdrawal of the alliance’s weapons to the positions of 1997, as well as non-deployment of strike weapons near Russian borders.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
