Pentagon says Biden-Putin talks gave ‘no reason for optimism’

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby took a serious note of an hour-long phone conversation between US President Joe Biden and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday.

“It is certainly not a sign that things are moving in the right direction. It is certainly not a sign that Mr. Putin has no intentions. And it is certainly not a sign that he is himself a diplomat.” We are committed to moving forward on the path,” Kirby told “Fox News Sunday” when asked about the lack of fundamental change after the call.

“So, it doesn’t give us any reason for optimism.”

In recent days US officials have issued a series of increasingly blunt warnings that a Russian invasion of Ukraine may be imminent, and foreign countries are rushing to evacuate their citizens.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday that “Russia could launch a major military crackdown in Ukraine any day.”

Sullivan used some of the most distinctive – and chilling – language yet employed by an American officer, warning that an invasion “is likely to begin with a significant barrage of missiles and bomb attacks … so innocent civilians are killed.” can.”

This, he said, would be followed by a ground attack in which “innocent civilians could be caught in the crossfire.”

Sullivan said Russia could still opt for a diplomatic solution, but that its forces near Ukraine’s borders are “in a position where they can launch military action very quickly.”

The growing intoxication of warnings has filled diplomatic contacts with a sense of intense urgency.

Ukraine’s leader’s office said on Sunday that Biden was ready to speak to President Volodymyr Zelensky “in the coming hours”.

And German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was preparing to leave for talks in Kiev and Moscow, vowed “drastic” and immediate sanctions by Germany and its NATO and European allies if Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” should be compromised by a Russian attack. And sovereignty” is threatened.

A German government source told reporters the tension was now at a “very important, very dangerous” point.

In London, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace expressed concern that diplomacy was having any effect.

“The concern is that, despite a large amount of diplomacy, military build-up continues,” he told the Sunday Times. “It hasn’t stopped, it continues.”