US President Joe Biden on Tuesday warned President Vladimir Putin that Russia will face strong Western economic blowback if it tries to attack Ukraine. The US President made these remarks during the two-hour summit on Ukraine which was held between the two leaders through a video link. The Russian President also demanded that the NATO alliance keep clear of Russia. The summit on Ukraine was organised to discuss the growing tension on the Russian-Ukrainian frontier and the rising fear of a major war in Europe as the Russian military has deployed up to 100,000 troops on the frontier.
Biden, Putin summit on Ukraine | Key Points
1. Russia has said that it does not plan to invade Ukraine. However, the country already supports a powerful separatist rebellion across swaths of eastern Ukraine and annexed the Crimean peninsula from Kiev in 2014.
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2. Terming the accusations as hysteria, Russia said that their troops are on their territory and they are threatening no one, according to Putin's top foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov. On the contrary, Putin has said that Moscow sees Ukraine's growing alliance with the Western nations as a threat to Russian security.
3. "Russia is seriously interested in obtaining reliable legal guarantees that will exclude NATO's eastward expansion and the deployment of offensive strike weapons in countries adjacent to Russia," the Kremlin said.
4. "President Biden voiced the deep concerns of the United States and our European allies about Russia's escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine," the White House said in a statement.
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5. President Biden also said that Russia will face severe consequences from US and its allies if Moscow decides to attack Ukraine and such a harsh decision could also put his Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline supply to Europe at risk.
