The official added that Biden would reiterate that a Russian advance into Ukraine was a dangerous red line for Putin to cross: “President Biden will also make clear when he speaks with President Putin that we are prepared for diplomacy and for a diplomatic path forward, but we are also prepared to respond if Russia advances with a further invasion of Ukraine.” The senior administration official said “we are at a moment of crisis,” that the Russian military presence around Ukraine has not de-escalated since Biden and Putin’s last call, and that it “remains a continuing source of grave concern.” The White House’s language about the Russian build-up is alarming. I would only observe that over the course of the past year, we've requested calls with President Putin President Putin has requested calls with President Biden.” “I cannot speak to why the Russian side has requested this call. Putin may be “seeking a response to a series of demands about Russian security concerns that, if left unfulfilled, may provide him with a pretext to initiate the military action he has threatened in Ukrainian territory.”Ī senior administration official offered little more clarity to what’s motivating Putin: NYT’s David Sanger and Andrew Kramer note that in Washington foreign policy circles there’s speculation that the call could be about Putin backing down and “trying to de-escalate a situation largely of his own creation.”īut it could also be the opposite. There’s some mystery about the reason for Putin’s request to chat. A senior administration official briefed reporters yesterday afternoon, the NSC’s spokesperson released a statement about the call, and the call is the only thing on Biden’s public schedule today. Today’s call was requested by Putin and the White House has decided to turn the telephone summit into a somewhat public event. 7, when they held a video call to discuss tensions over Putin’s military buildup around Ukraine. It’s their second conversation since Dec.

THE BIDEN-PUTIN CALL - President Joe Biden, who is at home in Wilmington today, will talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin at 3:30.

It’s a slow news day, which is good news to your Playbook team, where two of us are dealing with one of the random aspects of this latest covid surge: households in which one person has tested positive but everyone else is negative (so far). | Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo DRIVING THE DAY The call was requested by Putin, though there's some mystery about his reason to chat. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak via phone today.

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