Biden waves to Putin and forgets to turn on his mic during high stakes call as threat of Ukraine invasion looms
JOE Biden was seen waving at Vladimir Putin and forgot to turn on his mic during the high stakes call as the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine looms.
The two-hour meeting between the two leaders comes after Moscow ramped up its wargames in recent weeks, sparking fears of a destabilizing conflict in Eastern Europe.
Russian news agencies released a video of the first few minutes of the call.
Putin took the call from his residence in Sochi, the Russian resort city on the Black Sea.
Putin was seated at a long wooden desk, with Biden on a large video screen in front of him, waving at each other as the call began.
“I welcome you, Mr. President!” Putin said at the start of the call, according to a brief video of the opening moments.
Biden experienced some technical difficulties on the call, apparently forgetting to switch his microphone on.
There was a silence on the other end, and then Biden is seen leaning forward, flipping a button and saying, "There you go," with a smile.
“Hello! Ha, ha ha, ha, ha. Good to see you again,” Biden replied.
The defense minister also said that five million Ukrainian refugees are fleeing into Europe amid heightened alarm about troop movements on the nations' border.
Kyiv has accused Russia of deploying tanks and additional sniper teams near the Ukrainian border amid warnings Moscow could invade in weeks.
"What we continue to see, and what we continue to see is added capability that President Putin continues to add, added military capability in the western part of his country and around Ukraine," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told .
Officials in Moscow claimed to have successfully tested its high-speed Zircon hypersonic weapon, and state media reports that Russia has increased its military cooperation with China.
Per CNN, the US is reportedly exploring options for the potential evacuation of US nationals from Ukraine in case of a Russian invasion.
In recent days, US officials have weighed whether to issue wide-reaching sanctions on Russia meant to deter Putin from launching an invasion into Ukraine.
Russia has constructed supply lines, including medical units and fuel, that could sustain a drawn-out conflict should Moscow choose to invade, two sources familiar with the latest intelligence assessments told the outlet.
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Biden was vice president, under then-President , in 2014 when Russian troops marched into the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and annexed the territory from Ukraine.
Afterward, Biden will speak to European leaders , Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and Mario Draghi, and later Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as he tries to hold a united front.
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