Russia on Wednesday took a cold shoulder against President Biden’s proposal to meet with President Putin for a personal summit as US ships steam for the Black Sea to counter Moscow’s growing military presence in the region.
The White House told Biden of the invitation to Putin during a phone call Tuesday in which Biden warned the Russian leader not to violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and chided him for meddling in the US elections.
But Moscow remained non-committal.
“It is too early to discuss this meeting in concrete terms. It’s a new proposal and it will be studied, ”said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, adding that more talks would take place at the diplomatic level.
“The parties are not yet planning a range of topics to discuss, there is no preparation for this meeting yet,” said Peskov.
Feelings are still raw among Cold War enemies after Biden last month referred to Putin as a “murderer” who would “pay a price” for the electoral interference, and Moscow responded by recalling its ambassador from Washington.
In Tuesday’s appeal, the White House said Biden had “made it clear that the United States will act decisively in defense of its national interests in response to Russia’s actions, such as cyber-burglaries and electoral interference.”
Meanwhile, Russian foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov invited John Sullivan, US ambassador to Moscow, to join the talks on Wednesday, warning that the Kremlin would react harshly if the US took “unfriendly measures,” such as imposing it. of sanctions.
Russia has rallied troops and armored vehicles near the Crimea border, which Putin illegally annexed in 2014, triggering sanctions from the West, and has moved warships and landing craft from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea.
In return, the US sent two ships – the USS Donald Cook and the USS Roosevelt – to the area and are expected to arrive on Wednesday as soon as possible.
Russia’s Black Sea fleet held live fire drills on Wednesday, and frigate Admiral Grigorovich successfully launched a cruise missile and hit a surface target, Russian news agency Tass reported.
Earlier this week, two Russian ships, the Graivoron and Vyshny Volochyok, conducted exercises in the Black Sea and destroyed targets in the air, the news agency reported.
At the same time, the Ukrainian army was practicing repelling a tank and infantry attack on the Crimean border in an area that has seen an escalation of fighting since Russian forces began backing the separatist forces after Putin annexed the peninsula.
The Ukrainian army posted videos of maneuvering tanks and firing artillery guns.
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