High-stakes vid meet

Biden Putin to discuss Ukraine

President Joe Biden will sit down for a video conference with Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Tuesday night amid escalating fears of a Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

“The presidents will decide themselves” how long the evening confab will last, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RIA Novosti state news agency on Saturday. The White House later confirmed the upcoming plans.

Word of the high-stakes meeting came amid fears of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine early next year, after the Washington Post reported on a new US intelligence document estimating that 175,000 troops in 100 battalion tactical groups would be involved in the incursion.

Biden vowed late Friday that the US would make it “very, very difficult” for Russia to take military action against Ukraine.

“What I am doing is putting together what I believe will be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do,” Biden told reporters as he set out for the presidential retreat at Camp David.

“We’ve been aware of Russia’s actions for a long time,” he said. “And my expectation is we’re gonna have a long discussion with Putin.”

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov warned that an invasion could begin as soon as January.

Satellite photos in recent weeks have found about 50 battlefield tactical groups already massed in three Russian regions near Ukraine’s eastern border, along with newly arrived artillery units and tanks. More have gathered in Russia-annexed Crimea.

The current number of Russian troops in the area is estimated at 70,000 by US intelligence officials, although Reznikov placed the total at 94,300.

Russian military drills are underway in the Voronezh and Belgorod regions near the Ukrainian border, including sniper sessions with 700 or more military marksmen, the UK Sun reported Saturday.

Field hospitals, supply lines, and fuel depots capable of supporting up to a month of military action have reportedly been put in place.

“Russia’s capabilities would be equivalent to a modern-day blitzkrieg,” said Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Putin has railed for months against a possible expansion of NATO that would add Ukraine and Georgia, both former Soviet territories, to the Western European alliance.

On Tuesday, Putin warned that any deployment of NATO troops or missiles in Ukraine would cross a “red line” and trigger a Russian military response.

Biden was asked Friday if he would assent to that limitation. “I won’t accept anybody’s red line,” he said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday administration officials had “engaged in the possibility” of a call between the two leaders.

“As you know, the President is somebody who believes in leaderto-leader diplomacy,” Psaki said during a White House press briefing. “It certainly would be an opportunity to discuss our serious concerns about the bellicose rhetoric about the military buildup that we’re seeing on the border of Ukraine.”