Biden Called Putin To Discuss Strategic Crisis, Propose Meeting in Third Country

April 13 , 2021 (EIRNS)—With the Ukraine crisis careening rapidly towards a strategic showdown, President Joe Biden called President Vladimir Putin today to discuss “a number of regional and global issues, including the intent of the United States and Russia to pursue a strategic stability dialogue on a range of arms control and emerging security issues, building on the extension of the New START Treaty,” according to a White House read-out of the call.

“President Biden reaffirmed his goal of building a stable and predictable relationship with Russia consistent with U.S. interests, and proposed a summit meeting in a third country in the coming months to discuss the full range of issues facing the United States and Russia,” according to the White House.

The statement also made sure to repeat Washington’s attacks on Russia for supposed “cyber intrusions and election interference,” noting that the U.S. would defend its national interests. Biden also stressed “the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The President voiced our concerns over the sudden Russian military build-up in occupied Crimea and on Ukraine’s borders, and called on Russia to de-escalate tensions.”

The Kremlin read-out specified that

“the current state of Russia-U.S. relations and certain pressing items on the international agenda were discussed in detail.... Both Presidents expressed their willingness to continue the dialogue on the critical areas of ensuring global security, which would meet the interests not only of Russia and the United States, but the entire international community. In addition, Joseph Biden expressed interest in normalizing the state of affairs on the bilateral track and establishing stable and predictable interaction on pressing matters such as ensuring strategic stability and arms control, Iran’s nuclear program, the situation in Afghanistan, and global climate change.”

It was in this context that “the U.S. President suggested considering the possibility of holding a personal summit meeting in the foreseeable future.”

As for Ukraine, “when exchanging views on the internal Ukrainian crisis, Vladimir Putin outlined approaches to a political settlement based on the Minsk Package of Measures.”