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Vladimir Putin begins video conference with Joe Biden

The leaders are expected to discuss the situation around Ukraine and NATO’s eastward expansion, as well as issues of strategic stability and bilateral agenda

US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin Mikhail Metzel/POOL/TASS

US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin

© Mikhail Metzel/POOL/TASS

SOCHI/WASHINGTON, December 7. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden began their bilateral talks that take place in a video conference format.

The leaders are expected to discuss the situation around Ukraine and NATO’s eastward expansion, as well as issues of strategic stability and bilateral agenda. They may also touch upon some issues of regional security, including the situation in Afghanistan.

According to the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the conversation may take some time. The conference will last for "as long as it takes," the spokesman said, adding that conversations like this do not have a precise timing.

Putin contacted his counterpart from his Sochi residence, where he arrived at after his visit to New Delhi.

The conversation takes place of a security video conference line, designed for communication of national leaders. This is the first time this system is being used. According to the Kremlin, this line was established during previous US administrations, but was inactive until today.

The today’s conference is the fifth conversation between Putin and Biden since the latter’s assumption of the presidential office. Previously, the two leaders had three phone calls and met in person in Geneva in June this year. The Geneva summit became the first Russia-US summit since 2018.

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Foreign policy Vladimir Putin Joseph Biden

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