Kremlin ‘pleased’ with Biden-Putin talks, but warns against ‘colossal’ mistake

 

Putin and Biden had a ‘serious’ talk, and the US president is said to have made a certain promise on Ukraine

©  Twitter / White House

Moscow is pleased with the results of the new phone talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden, Putin's aide has said. Putin has, however, warned the US against escalating Russia sanctions policy.

In a statement released after the phone talks between the Russian leader and his US counterpart, the Kremlin revealed that Biden made a pledge to Putin not to deploy offensive arms to Ukraine.

“Biden made it clear that the US does not intend to deploy offensive strike weapons in Ukraine,” Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy adviser, said speaking to the Russian media.

Ushakov pointed out that this was also one of the goals Moscow hopes to achieve with its proposals for security guarantees to the US and NATO.

During a 50-minute talk Putin once again outlined the main principles of Russia's security proposals that envision a ban on NATO’s expansion eastward. The Russian leader reportedly stressed that any potential deal with the West should include legally-binding guarantees of Russia’s security, with Ushakov noting that Biden appeared to have taken the demand "quite seriously.”

Ushakov revealed that the upcoming security talks will be held in three formats: at the Russia-US level in Geneva, at the Russia-NATO level in Brussels, and at the level of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna. The bilateral talks are set to kick off in Geneva on January 9.

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https://www.rt.com/russia/544861-kremlin-pleased-biden-putin-talks/