Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden are meeting as tensions between Russia and Ukraine over the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) escalate.
A White House official confirmed the news to Reuters. Russia offered to hold the meeting on Monday, and we responded by saying that the meeting could take place on Saturday, and Russia accepted our offer. “
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have been running high since Ukraine, a former Soviet Union state and a neighbor of Russia, applied for NATO membership a few years ago. Tensions have risen sharply since NATO recently declared Ukraine a “partner state” despite its non-membership.
Russia, formed in 1949, has always viewed Russia as a tool for Western powers to dominate; And Russia, historically the largest country in the world, is opposed to Western hegemony.
A significant portion of the former Soviet state of Ukraine’s population is of Russian descent, and Russian separatist groups are also active in the country.
Russia has deployed about 100,000 troops on the Ukraine-Russia border since last December. It has recently been reported that the country is also increasing its military presence in various parts of Crimea, which Ukraine occupied in 2014.
Meanwhile, the United States, a NATO-led country, has been vocal about the issue since the deployment of Russian troops on the border. US President Joe Biden says almost daily that Russia could invade Ukraine at any time.
Biden has repeatedly warned that President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government will have to pay a heavy price if Russia invades Ukraine.
Although Moscow has said that Russia has no plans to invade Ukraine, the United States and Europe have no confidence in it. But Russia, the United States, and Europe agree that the crisis can still be resolved diplomatically.
However, on February 8, the President of France, Emanuel Macron, one of the members of NATO, met with Putin in Russia; But Macron himself acknowledged that the crisis was not over.
