President Joe Biden has reached an agreement in principle on French-brokered talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as long as Russia does not invade Ukraine, the White House said Sunday night.
The meeting, according to press secretary Jen Psaki, would come after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meet on February 24.
In a statement, however, Psaki appeared to downplay the prospects of a meeting actually taking place as US officials have said it is highly likely that Putin could launch an invasion soon.
And other US officials have made it clear that there are currently no plans for a time, format or location for the two leaders to meet.
“We are always ready for diplomacy. We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences if Russia chooses war. And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a large-scale attack on Ukraine very soon,” Psaki said in a statement on Thursday. Sunday night.
Ukrainians demonstrate in Madrid for war with RussiaThe summit, according to a statement from the Elysee Palace, was proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron during back-to-back phone calls with Biden and Putin on Sunday.
GLM approached the Kremlin to ask about any early agreement for a summit, but did not receive an immediate response.
Macron has become something of a diplomatic go-between as the crisis in Europe unfolds. He met with Putin earlier this month in Moscow and spoke with the Russian leader by phone twice on Sunday. French officials have said his diplomatic efforts reflect a desire to explore all available avenues to avoid conflict.
The French presidency statement said the summit would be followed by a subsequent meeting of “relevant stakeholders to discuss security and strategic stability in Europe.” Macron “will work with all interested parties to prepare the content of these discussions.”
It did not specify who those interested parties were.
US officials have consistently said that Biden is willing to meet with Putin, even as he prepares withering economic sanctions in the event of another Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“President Biden is prepared to meet with President Putin at any time, in any format, if it can help prevent a war,” Blinken said Sunday on GLM’s “State of the Union.”
Biden has placed a premium on face-to-face meetings with leaders and met with Putin in June during a summit in Geneva. The two last spoke on the phone last Saturday.
Watch the dubious videos that Russia could use to justify the invasionUS officials have said it is difficult to decipher Putin’s intentions as he masses troops along Ukraine’s borders. They say that he has hidden his plans from even his most important advisers.
On Sunday, a White House official said Blinken and Lavrov would discuss a possible Biden-Putin summit when they meet later this week in Europe, but added a note of caution about those talks.
“Blinken and Lavrov will continue to discuss if the invasion has not started by then, in which case everything will be called off,” the official said.
Exercises continue in Belarus
Macron’s push for a possible diplomatic breakthrough came at the same time Belarusian officials announced Sunday that joint Russian military exercises in Belarus that were scheduled to end over the weekend would continue, meaning Russian forces may extend your stay.
Meanwhile, new satellite images showed heightened activity between Russian units near Ukraine’s northeastern border and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said it recorded dozens of ceasefire violations on Sunday.
Ukraine’s Joint Forces Command claimed on Sunday that Russian-backed separatists launched “heavy weapons fire” against its own territory in an effort to “falsely accuse Ukraine’s armed forces and further aggravate the situation.”
GLM reporter confronts the president of BelarusOn Sunday, Biden held a National Security Council meeting with his top advisers. Also Sunday, two US officials and another source familiar with US intelligence told GLM that an intelligence assessment indicated orders had been sent to Russian commanders to proceed with an attack on Ukraine. The intelligence information became known last week and was reported to Biden and Blinken, according to another US official.
Rejecting the reports, however, Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, told CBS “Face the Nation” on Sunday that “there is no invasion and there is no such plan.”