Biden and Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia just agreed to have a meeting to discuss the “security and strategic stability in Europe.” However, Biden says he will only meet with Putin if Russia doesn’t invade Ukraine. The summit will be the main point of a discussion between Anthony Blinken, the Secretary of State, and the Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, during a meeting they will have on Thursday.
Emmanuel Macron, The French President, announced the potential summit on Sunday, and one press release says that the summit will only be held under the condition that Russia doesn’t move forward with their invasion of Ukraine. Biden spoke directly with Macron in the afternoon on Sunday.
Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary, confirmed that Biden has agreed to the meeting “in principle,” but it seems that Russia is continuing to move forward with their preparations to launch a full-scale assault in Ukraine sooner rather than later.
Psaki said, “President Biden accepted in principle a meeting with President Putin following that engagement, again, if an invasion hasn’t happened. We are always ready for diplomacy. We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war. And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon.”
She also added that Biden is doing his best to pursue diplomacy until the second an invasion starts.
“As the President has repeatedly made clear, we are committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins. Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Lavrov are scheduled to meet later this week in Europe, provided Russia does not proceed with military action,” remarked Psaki.
The Ukrainian military is reporting that the violence is escalating in the Eastern part of Ukraine.
