RUSSIA, US, UKRAINE, BELARUS: US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed “in principle” to a summit over Ukraine, as long as that country holds off on what U.S. officials believe is an imminent assault on Ukraine, the White House has confirmed.
In a statement, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said: “We are always ready for diplomacy. 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.”
The announcement was first made by the office of French President Emmanuel Macron, who assisted in brokering the potential talks between the two leaders. The Elysee Palace stated that Macron had pitched both leaders on a summit over “security and strategic stability in Europe.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia called for intensified diplomatic efforts Sunday to avert all-out war, each blaming the other for a sharp escalation in shelling on the front line separating Kyiv’s forces from Moscow-backed separatists.
After separate calls with France’s President Emmanuel Macron, both Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky pressed for more talks.
During his 105-minute discussion with Macron, Putin said “the cause of the escalation is provocations carried out by the Ukrainian security forces”, according to a Kremlin statement. Putin repeated a call for “the United States and NATO to take Russian demands for security guarantees seriously”. Meanwhile, Russia will extend military drills in Belarus that were due to end yesterday, the Belarusian defence ministry announced, in a step US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said made him more worried about an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Defence Ministry said the decision was taken because of military activity near the borders of Russia and Belarus as well as the situation in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region.- THE HINDUSTAN TIMES,
GULF TIMES