{"id":65030,"date":"2021-12-05T15:07:50","date_gmt":"2021-12-05T15:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/12\/05\/biden-putin-set-video-call-tuesday-as-ukraine-tensions-grow\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:09:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:09:35","slug":"biden-putin-set-video-call-tuesday-as-ukraine-tensions-grow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2021\/12\/05\/biden-putin-set-video-call-tuesday-as-ukraine-tensions-grow\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden, Putin set video call Tuesday as Ukraine tensions grow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MOSCOW \u2014 Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will speak in a video call Tuesday, the White House and Kremlin said, as tensions between the United States and Russia escalate over a Russian troop buildup on the Ukrainian border <\/a>that\u2019s seen as a sign of a potential invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden will press U.S. concerns about Russian military activities on the border and \u201creaffirm the United States\u2019 support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,\u201d White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Saturday, confirming the planned call after first word came from Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putin will come to the call with concerns of his own and intends to express Russia\u2019s opposition to any move to admit Ukraine into the NATO military alliance. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said \u201cthe presidents will decide themselves\u201d how long their talk will last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last known call between the leaders was in July, when Biden pressed Putin to rein in Russia-based criminal hacking gangs launching ransomware attacks against the United States. Biden said the U.S. would take any necessary steps to protect critical infrastructure from such attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ransomware attacks have continued since then, though perhaps none has been as alarming as the one from May that targeted a major fuel pipeline and resulted in days of gas shortages in parts of the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia is more adamant than ever that the U.S. guarantees that Ukraine will not be admitted to the NATO military alliance<\/a>. But NATO\u2019s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, said this past week that Russia has no say in expansion plans by other countries or the alliance. Numerous former U.S. and NATO diplomats say any such Russian demand to Biden would be a nonstarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. intelligence officials, meanwhile, have determined that Russia has massed about 70,000 troops near its border with Ukraine and has begun planning for a possible invasion<\/a> as soon as early next year, according to a Biden administration official who was not authorized to discuss that finding publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\t