Biden Accepts ‘In Principle’ Meeting with Putin: White House

On Sunday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki that U.S. President Joe Biden "accepted in principle" a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Psaki's confirmation of a potential Biden-Putin summit followed a statement by the Elysee Palace in France saying the two presidents have "accepted in principle" a virtual meeting brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron, who held separate phone calls with Biden and Putin on Sunday.

Psaki said the summit would happen after a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov next week, provided that Russia will not invade Ukraine.

"We are always ready for diplomacy," she said in the statement. "We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war."

The latest development came as the United States has kept claiming Russia could invade its neighbor at any time, while Russia has denied any such plans, accusing Washington of "hysteria." The Blinken-Lavrov meeting, agreed previously by the two sides, will take place on Thursday in Europe.

On Monday, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, stated that the United States and Russia cannot decide the fate of Ukraine without taking into account the opinion of that country.

"If Putin and Biden meet, and the Ukraine issue is discussed there, believe me, without us no one will be able to solve our problem," Danilov said, stressing that "everything will happen only with our participation, because we are direct participants in the process. It is about of our country and our citizens."