Mr. President, you have to unmute yourself.
President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday opened a two-hour summit with waves hello — and some Biden virtual-meeting technical difficulties — before discussing concerns that Russia may invade Ukraine.
The Biden team closed the meeting’s start to US reporters, but Russian state media published video of an amicable introduction and the Kremlin released an image that showed Biden waving with a smile on his face.
Biden seemed to start the dialogue with his microphone muted as his lips moved without audio.
“I welcome you, Mr. President,” Putin said through a translator.
“There you go,” Biden said moments later as he pressed a button to unmute himself.
“Hello! Ha, ha ha, ha, ha. Good to see you again,” Biden was finally able to reply.
“Good afternoon,” a smirking Putin said.
“I uh, unfortunately last time I — we didn’t get to see each other at the G20. I hope next time we meet we do it in person,” Biden said.
After the call ended, the White House said Biden “voiced the deep concerns of the United States and our European Allies about Russia’s escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine and made clear that the U.S. and our allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation.”
Biden “called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy,” the statement said.
“The two presidents tasked their teams to follow up, and the U.S. will do so in close coordination with allies and partners. The presidents also discussed the U.S.-Russia dialogue on Strategic Stability, a separate dialogue on ransomware, as well as joint work on regional issues such as Iran,” the White House said.
Biden will host a Tuesday afternoon call with US allies in Western Europe to brief them on the Putin call. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson are expected on that call.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month alleged a pro-Russia coup plot that supposedly was supposed to take place Dec. 1-2 and Russia has allegedly amassed troops near Ukraine’s borders.
Ukraine is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in Europe and has alternated between pro-Russian and pro-Western leaders since the end of the Cold War. A 2014 uprising moved Ukraine away from Russian influence, sparking pro-Russia protests across the Russian-speaking south and east of the country.
The White House has vowed crippling economic sanctions against Russia if it invades Ukraine — and prior Russian troop build-ups, including earlier this year, have dissipated without conflict.
But some Republicans say Biden isn’t doing enough.
“Joe Biden has no one to blame but himself for this situation in Russia,” said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).
“I would say this call is even an example of how he is appeasing Vladimir Putin. He builds up 175,000 troops on Ukraine’s border and what does Joe Biden do? Rushes to get on a video call to beg him not to invade Ukraine when he is unwilling to specify exactly the kind of measures the United States will lead Europe in taking should he invade Ukraine.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said in a statement: “Diplomacy without action is weak and Vladimir Putin only understands strength. Allowing him to execute a land grab in Ukraine would be a humanitarian disaster in Europe and embolden other malign entities such as the Chinese Communist Party. President Biden must send a strong signal to Putin, Xi, and other brutal strongmen around the world that the United States will not condone violent takeovers of nations.”
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 following a disputed referendum. Prior to 1954, the important port and resort region was considered part of Russia within the Soviet Union, rather than part of Ukraine.
Putin’s government also allegedly propped up a pair of pro-Russia breakaway states in eastern Ukraine. Those territories in the coal-rich Donbas region remain at war with the country’s central government.
Zelensky wants Ukraine to join NATO, which would commit the US and Western Europe to the military defense of his country. Putin wants a US guarantee that won’t happen.
As vice president, Biden led the Obama administration’s foreign policy on Ukraine and wielded US foreign aid in a purported push to clean up corruption. His son Hunter Biden in 2014 joined the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma, which paid him a reported $1 million per year despite no relevant industry experience.
The White House forced US journalists to rely on the notoriously anti-free-press Kremlin PR operation after freezing the US press corps out of several other high-profile meetings this year, giving foreign governments the ability to cultivate media coverage.
Biden’s press team abruptly disinvited US press from a June summit between Biden and Turkish autocrat Recep Tayyip Erdogan, forcing reporters to rely on Erdogan’s government, which regularly jails reporters, for information.
In October, Biden’s handlers axed US media coverage of a summit between Biden and Pope Francis — discontinuing a century of independent press coverage of papal meetings dating back to Woodrow Wilson.
Even when US reporters are given access, Biden has been less eager than foreign visitors to engage with questions. At a September pool spray in the Oval Office with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Johnson chose to answer queries from UK reporters, but Biden declined to take questions from the American press.
Biden, Putin hold virtual meeting as Ukraine tensions escalate (nypost.com)
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