On Tuesday, December 7, U.S. President Joe Biden held an online meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The intra-Ukrainian crisis and the lack of progress in implementing the 2015 Minsk agreements, which have no alternative for bringing about a peaceful resolution, topped the conversation’s agenda.
This was reported by the Kremlin press service following a lengthy conversation of the leaders of the two states.
“The President of Russia shared specific examples to illustrate the destructive nature of Kyiv’s policy to dismantle the Minsk Package of Measures and the agreements reached within the Normandy format. He also expressed serious concern about Kyiv’s provocative actions against Donbas,” the message reads.
Joseph Biden, in turn, focused on threatening movements of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border and outlined the sanctions the United States and its allies would be ready to impose should the situation escalate any further.
In response, Putin warned against shifting the responsibility on Russia, since it was NATO that was undertaking dangerous attempts to gain a foothold on Ukrainian territory, and building up its military capabilities along the Russian border. It is for this reason that Russia is eager to obtain reliable, legally binding guarantees ruling out the eventuality of NATO’s eastward expansion and the deployment of offensive weapons systems in the countries neighboring Russia.
“The two leaders agreed to instruct their representatives to engage in meaningful consultations on these sensitive matters,” the message reads.
The leader of the Russian Federation also proposed resetting all the existing restrictions regarding the functioning of the diplomatic missions, which could help bring other aspects of diplomatic relations between the two countries back to normal.
The Kremlin noted that the conversation between the two heads of state "were frank and businesslike".
“Overall, the conversation took place in a sincere and business-like atmosphere,” the message comculdes.