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Kremlin confirms Putin, Biden started phone call

The phone call takes place behind closed door

MOSOW, December 30. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden began their phone call, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Thursday.

"Yes. They have started on time," the spokesman said.

Earlier, White House representative announced that the two leaders started their phone call at 15:35 Washington time Thursday (23:35 Moscow time). The White House added that Biden is currently in his house in Wilmington, Delaware. The phone call takes place behind closed door.

This is the second talk between the two presidents this month. On December 7, Putin and Biden had a video conference that lasted for two hours. The main topic was the situation around Ukraine; the leaders also discussed bilateral relations, cybersecurity and the Iran nuclear deal.

The new conversation was proposed by Putin. Previously, Peskov told journalists that the conversation will continue the discussion of the questions, raised during the previous talks and planned for discussion for the upcoming January 2022 talks. White House National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said that Biden plans to discuss a number of topics with Putin, including the upcoming diplomatic contacts with Russia.

On January 10, Geneva will host Russian-US talks on security guarantees.

On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a draft agreement on security guarantees between Russia and the United States and a draft agreement on ensuring the security of Russia and NATO member states. The documents were handed over to US Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried on December 15.