China News Agency, Washington, February 12 (Reporter Chen Mengtong) US President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call on the 12th on the situation in Ukraine.
Biden said that the United States is still ready to solve the problem with Russia through diplomatic means, but it is also ready to deal with other situations and will fully coordinate with its allies.
This is the second direct communication between the two sides on the situation in Ukraine since December last year.
On the same day, the U.S. and Russian foreign ministers and defense ministers also had separate phone calls on the Ukraine issue.
The call between Biden and Putin was held at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the 12th and lasted about an hour.
The White House later issued a statement saying that Biden reiterated in the call that if Russia takes action on the Ukrainian border to escalate the situation, the United States will respond decisively with allies.
He also made it clear to Putin that the United States is still ready to resolve the issue with Russia through diplomatic means, but it is also ready to deal with other situations and will coordinate fully with its allies.
In a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the 12th, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken expressed concern that the situation on the Ukrainian border could escalate in the coming days.
Blinken said a diplomatic solution to the crisis remained open, but it would require Moscow to de-escalate tensions and engage in good-faith discussions.
The US did not disclose the specific content of the discussion between US Defense Secretary Austin and Russian Defense Minister Shoigu on the situation in Ukraine that day.
But the Pentagon announced in a separate release that it would send an additional 3,000 U.S. troops to Poland in the next few days, while temporarily withdrawing 160 National Guard troops for military training from Ukraine.
This is the second U.S. troop increase to Europe in 10 days.
In response to tensions on the Ukrainian border, the U.S. sent about 2,000 additional U.S. troops to Germany and Poland on the 2nd, while deploying about 1,000 U.S. troops stationed in Germany to Romania.
About 4,700 of the two additional U.S. troops were deployed to Poland, which borders Ukraine.
The Pentagon said there are currently more than 80,000 troops stationed in Europe and the United States.
The additional 5,000 U.S. troops will "form a highly mobile force capable of performing multiple missions and responding to a variety of contingencies."
Recently, the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border has continued to be tense.
The two sides have deployed a large number of military personnel and equipment in the border areas of the two countries.
The United States and Ukraine claim that Russia has assembled heavy troops on the Russian-Ukrainian border in preparation for an "invasion" of Ukraine.
Russia denied it, emphasizing that NATO activities threaten Russia's border security, and Russia has the right to mobilize troops within its borders to defend its territory.
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