Alexis Guilleux, edited by Manon Fossat 10:15 a.m., December 31, 2021

A telephone exchange between Putin and Biden, the second in less than a month, took place Thursday before talks between US and Russian officials in Geneva on January 10, amidst tensions around Ukraine.

Kiev and its Western allies indeed accuse Russia of having massed tens of thousands of soldiers on the border of Ukraine in anticipation of a possible invasion.

Their interview lasted 50 minutes.

Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone Thursday.

At the heart of the discussions, the Ukrainian crisis generated by the threat of a Russian invasion.

It was the second meeting in three weeks between the two men.

However, the lines are not always fixed. 

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The Kremlin and the White House are indeed very cautious.

Vladimir Putin said he was satisfied with the discussion, while stressing that US sanctions would be a colossal mistake.

Joe Biden reiterated his position: the United States and its allies will respond resolutely to any invasion of Ukraine.

At the beginning of December, he had already brandished the threat of sanctions, as Russia has never seen, because the United States remains very worried about the presence of tens of thousands of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border.

Keep communication channels open

This week, American planes have carried out reconnaissance missions twice over eastern Ukraine in an attempt to obtain information on the situation on the ground.

For nearly an hour, the two presidents also renewed their desire to dialogue, to keep the channels of communication open.

Still, Russians and Americans are looking towards Geneva.

New talks will be organized there on January 10 around the crucial issue of security in Europe.

But on Thursday Joe Biden warned: any diplomatic progress requires de-escalation in Ukraine.