US President Joe Biden is set to hold talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin for the second time this month, in a bid to de-escalate tensions over Ukraine, the BBC reports.
The two leaders will speak by phone on Thursday evening.
They will discuss forthcoming security talks between the countries and the situation in Europe, a White House official said.
Russia, which has built up forces on the border with Ukraine, denies planning to invade the country.
It says its troops are there for exercises, and that it is entitled to move its troops freely on its own soil.
Hours before the call, Mr Putin told Mr Biden in a holiday message he was “convinced” the pair could work together based on “mutual respect and consideration of each other’s national interests”.
His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow was “in the mood for a conversation”.
The US consulted European leaders ahead of the call to co-ordinate a common response to the Ukraine issue, a White House statement said.
Ukrainian security officials say more than 100,000 Russian troops have been sent close to their shared border, and the US has threatened Mr Putin with sanctions “like none he’s ever seen” if Ukraine comes under attack.
Mr Biden will offer his Russian counterpart a “diplomatic path” but remains “gravely” concerned by the Russian troop build-up on the border, a US official told AFP news agency.
