Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin to speak on Thursday as Ukraine tensions simmer

Name: Putin only understands ‘the language of guns’, says Ukrainian soldier at Russia-Ukraine border
Uploaded: 2021-12-29T18:07:41.000Z
Duration: 2 min 45 s
Description: Putin only understands ‘the language of guns’, says Ukrainian soldier at Russia-Ukraine border

The call, which will come before planned security talks between the two sides in January, was requested by the Russian leader, a US official said

Washington, meanwhile, is continuing to work with allies on a common response to Moscow’s troop build-up at the border

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US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, arrive for talks at the Villa la Grange in Geneva in June. Photo: AP,

Reuters

Published: 2:07am, 30 Dec 2021Updated: 3:54am, 30 Dec 2021

US President Joe Biden will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, the White House said, as Washington crafts a common response to Russia’s military build-up on the Ukraine border with European allies.

Biden and Putin will discuss a range of topics, including upcoming security talks between the countries, National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said in a statement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the call was planned for “late Thursday evening”, without elaborating.

Horne said Biden had spoken with leaders across Europe about the situation on the Ukraine border, while Biden administration officials were in touch with Nato, the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

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Putin only understands ‘the language of guns’, says Ukrainian soldier at Russia-Ukraine border

Moscow has alarmed the West by massing tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine in the past two months, following its seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014 and its backing of separatists fighting Kyiv troops in eastern Ukraine.