Biden, Putin did not resolve the crisis along Ukraine’s borders

US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin held two hours of virtual talks on Ukraine and other disputes on Tuesday, Russian state TV reported, amid Western fears that Moscow is poised to invade its southern neighbour. Biden told Putin he hoped their next meeting would be in person. The Kremlin has said it hopes the two leaders can hold an in-person summit to discuss what it has described as the lamentable state of US-Russia relations, which have sunk to their lowest since the end of the Cold War. According to the New York Times report President Biden and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia spoke in an effort to defuse a growing military crisis along Ukraine’s borders, where tens of thousands of Russian troops have massed in what U.S. officials say could be the prelude to an all-out invasion.

The leaders’ video conference did not resolve the crisis along Ukraine’s borders, and neither the Kremlin nor the White House reported substantial progress. Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said after the meeting that . Biden had offered  Putin the choice between a diplomatic solution and the severe economic and political consequences that would follow a Russian invasion of Ukraine — but he did not say whether  Putin had made any commitments. The meeting between the two leaders was one of the biggest foreign tests of Joe Biden's presidency to date,   with consequences for the stability of Europe, the credibility of American threats and the future of a country the United States has spent years trying to defend from  Putin’s aggression.

US officials said before the video conference that Biden would tell Putin that Russia and its banks could be hit with the toughest economic sanctions yet if it attacks Ukraine. The Kremlin, which said before Tuesday’s meeting it did not expect any breakthroughs, has denied harbouring any intention to attack Ukraine and has said its troop posture is defensive.