MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden in his phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned sanctions, but the issue was not in the spotlight of the talks, Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov told reporters on Saturday.

"Joe Biden predictably mentioned potential severe anti-Russian sanctions in the context of the thorny situation around Ukraine, but the emphasis was not placed on that issue during a quite lengthy conversation with the Russian leader," Ushakov said.

According to Ushakov, Putin "laid out in detail Russia’s approaches and explained why it is now high time to address the issues on which Russia’s national security really depends."

Talks on security guarantees for Russia

Putin and Biden had spoken over the phone at the end of 2021. On December 7, they also held talks via videoconference. The first face-to-face meeting between Putin and Biden as heads of state took place in Geneva in June 2021.

The West and Kiev have recently been spreading allegations about Russia’s potential ‘invasion’ of Ukraine. Moscow castigated these claims. However, the Kremlin did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such allegations and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences.

Simultaneously, talks on pan-European security are underway. In December 2021, 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. On January 26, the US and NATO handed over their written responses to Moscow’s proposals. Putin said that in those responses Washington and Brussels disregarded Russia’s basic concerns. However, the Kremlin pointed out that there were some rational aspects in the Western proposals, but they were minor ones.