US administration official: President Biden spent several days preparing to speak with Putin
Joe Biden. Photo: Adam Schultz / Globallookpress.com
= US President Joe Biden spent several days preparing for a conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. A high-ranking representative of the American administration told about this, TASS reports.
The head of the White House has been preparing for a phone call in recent days with representatives of his senior foreign policy team, the official said.
“You know all of them, but first of all they were Secretary of State [Anthony Blinken] and National Security Assistant Jake Sullivan. Others were also involved in the preparation, ”he said.
Earlier, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said that Putin and Biden discussed the issue of providing security guarantees from the United States. The parties agreed to continue the dialogue, on the whole, the American colleague reacted seriously and logically to the point of view of the Russian leader, who, in turn, stressed several times the main provisions that Moscow adheres to.
The conversation between the Russian and American leaders began at 15.35 Washington time (23.35 Moscow time) on Thursday, December 30, and ended at 16.25 (00.25 Moscow time Friday, December 31), the White House said. In total, the dialogue lasted 50 minutes. According to Ushakov, the parties “had a substantive discussion”, the main topics were touched upon.
