美国总统拜登在周二的一次视频会议上告诉俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京，随着俄罗斯在与乌克兰边境集结军队，美国“将在军事升级的情况下采取强有力的经济和其他措施来应对”。
白宫在通话后发表声明称:“拜登总统表达了美国和我们的欧洲盟友对俄罗斯升级包围乌克兰的军事力量的深切担忧，并明确表示，如果军事升级，美国和我们的盟友将采取强有力的经济和其他措施来应对。”白宫表示，通话持续了两小时一分钟。
白宫表示，拜登“重申支持乌克兰的主权和领土完整，并呼吁缓和紧张局势，恢复外交手段。”
据白宫消息，通话于上午10点07分开始，俄罗斯电视画面显示，普京坐在一张长长的木桌前，看着电视屏幕上的拜登，两人互相挥手致意。
“欢迎，总统先生，”普京说。
“你好。很高兴再次见到你，”拜登回答道。“不幸的是，上次我们没有在20国集团会议上见面。我希望下次见面时，我们能亲自见面。”
普京在俄罗斯度假城市索契的住所发表讲话。拜登在白宫情况室;白宫发布了一张照片，显示他与国务卿安东尼·布林肯、美国国家安全顾问杰克·沙利文和其他顾问坐在一起。
米哈伊尔·梅策尔，通过苏联人造卫星泳池，通过路透社
俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京通过视频连线与美国总统拜登举行会谈...
拜登政府的一名高级官员周一表示，此次会晤是两国领导人自7月以来的首次对话，拜登计划威胁称，如果俄罗斯准备进行军事入侵，将采取“实质性的经济对策”。
拜登周五告诉美国广播公司新闻白宫记者玛丽·爱丽丝·帕克斯(MaryAlice Parks)，“我正在做的是把我认为最全面、最有意义的举措整合在一起，让普京很难继续做人们担心他可能会做的事情。
白宫表示，在与普京通话后，拜登计划与法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙、德国总理安格拉·默克尔、英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊和意大利总理马里奥·德拉吉会谈。
双方领导人前一天已经谈过话，之后白宫表示他们“呼吁俄罗斯缓和紧张局势”;同意“外交”是“唯一的前进道路”;并“强调支持乌克兰的主权和领土完整。"
这位高级政府官员表示，美国正在关注一系列事件的发展，类似于2014年俄罗斯入侵乌克兰之前的情况，当时俄罗斯吞并了克里米亚半岛。这位官员说，这包括将军队转移到与乌克兰的边境，以及社交媒体上反乌克兰宣传的“大幅增加”。
盖蒂图像，文件
图为美国总统乔·拜登和俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京的合影..
但是，根据这位官员的说法，美国还没有确定普京是否已经决定是否发动袭击。
这位官员在与记者的通话中表示:“我们不知道也没有明确的迹象表明，普京总统实际上已经做出了——这里给出了肯定的命令。“这更多的是关于计划意图，然后是我们所看到的各种运动。”
在此之前，白宫和克里姆林宫都试图降低预期。
普京发言人佩斯科夫周一对俄罗斯第一频道表示:“在这里，不要有一些过度兴奋、情绪激动的期望，这非常重要。”。
当被美国广播公司新闻白宫记者卡伦·特拉弗斯问及白宫的信息是否也是不要抱有很高的期望时，白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基回答说:“我认为是的。”
“总统不会在表达他的担忧时退缩，”普萨基告诉另一名记者。
参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔周一表示，俄罗斯的“升级”是“迫在眉睫的威胁”
“总统呼吁的利害关系再清楚不过了，”麦康奈尔在参议院发言时说。
白宫表示，除了乌克兰，拜登还谈到了战略稳定、赎金和“在伊朗等地区问题上的共同努力”。
白宫已经明确表示，如果俄罗斯决定推进对乌克兰的军事入侵，美国准备支持该地区的盟友。
这位高级官员周一表示:“我认为，你可以预见，如果发生入侵，加强我们的北约盟友和我们的东部侧翼盟友的信心和保证的需要将是真实的，美国将准备提供这种保证。“这只是将2014年的教训应用到2021年。”
值得注意的是，这位官员没有具体说明这种“保证”是否会以制裁、美国军队、能力或上述所有形式出现，也没有说明支持的一触即发原因。
这位官员甚至没有直截了当地说，拜登将警告普京，如果俄罗斯军队进入乌克兰，美国军队可能会被利用。
2014年俄罗斯入侵克里米亚半岛后，美国和欧盟对俄罗斯进行经济制裁，俄罗斯被踢出“八国集团”工业化国家。
美国还向东欧派遣了600名士兵，以示与俄罗斯边境波罗的海国家的团结。这一部署已经演变成美国向东欧国家的一系列相对较小的轮换部署。
这位官员在谈到周二的电话时说:“我不想用公开的新闻电话来谈论拜登总统将为普京总统提出的特别敏感的挑战。“但我要说的是，美国并不寻求最终陷入这样一种情况，即我们的反制措施的重点是直接使用美国军事力量，而不是同时支持乌克兰军队、强有力的经济反制措施以及大幅增加对我们的北约盟友的支持和能力，以确保他们保持安全。”
简而言之:这位官员表示，拜登将“明确表示，如果俄罗斯选择继续进行，将会付出非常真实的代价，但他也将明确表示，在外交方面有一种有效的前进方式”。
对于俄罗斯的任何侵略，美国政府首选的应对方案是与欧洲伙伴合作实施一系列经济制裁，这位官员警告称，这些制裁将是“严厉的”
“我们认为，我们有一条前进的道路，这将涉及欧洲和美国双方的实质性经济对策，如果它们选择继续前进，将对俄罗斯经济造成重大和严重的经济损害。这位官员警告称:“我不打算谈论具体细节，但我们相信，这里有一条前进的道路，这将使我们能够向俄罗斯发出一个明确的信息，即如果他们选择在乌克兰推进军事升级，选择前进将付出真正、有意义和持久的代价。
在拜登与普京和泽连斯基通话之前，美国国务卿安东尼布林肯周一与乌克兰总统泽连斯基进行了交谈发推他已经与布林肯达成“一致立场”。
泽伦斯基写道:“感谢战略伙伴和盟友对我们主权和领土完整的持续支持。
这位官员说，拜登本人将打电话给泽伦斯基，提供他随后与普京对话的内容。
Biden confronts Putin over Ukraine in high-stakes meeting
President Joe Biden told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a video meeting on Tuesday that the United States "would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation," as Russia builds up its forces on its border with Ukraine.
"President Biden voiced the deep concerns of the United States and our European Allies about Russia’s escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine and made clear that the U.S. and our Allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation," the White House said in a statement following the call, which the White House said lasted two hours and one minute.
Biden, the White House said, "reiterated his support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy."
The call started at 10:07 a.m., according to the White House, and Russian TV showed Putin sitting at a long, wooden table looking at Biden on a TV monitor and the two men waving at each other.
"Welcome, Mr. President," Putin said.
"Hello. Good to see you again," Biden replied. "Unfortunately, last time we did not get to see each other at the G-20. I hope next time we meet we do it in person."
Putin spoke from his residence in the Russian resort city Sochi. Biden was in the White House Situation Room; the White House released a photograph showing him seated with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan and other advisors.
During the meeting, the first conversation between the leaders since July, Biden planned to threaten "substantial economic countermeasures" if Russia prepared to proceed with a military invasion, a senior Biden administration official said Monday.
"What I am doing is putting together what I believe to be–will be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do," Biden told ABC News White House correspondent MaryAlice Parks on Friday.
After his call with Putin, the White House said, Biden planned to speak with France's President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
The leaders had spoken the day before, after which the White House said they "called on Russia to de-escalate tensions"; agreed that diplomacy" was "the only way forward"; and "underscored their support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
The senior administration official said the U.S. was watching a series of events unfold similar to the lead-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014, when it annexed the Crimean Peninsula. That included moving troops to its border with Ukraine coupled with a "significant spike" in anti-Ukrainian propaganda on social media, the official said.
But, according to the official, the U.S. had not determined whether Putin had decided yet if he would attack.
"We do not know or have a clear indication that President Putin has actually made an–given an affirmative order here," the official said in a call with reporters. "It is more about planning intentions and then the kinds of movements that we have seen."
Ahead of the call, both the White House and Kremlin sought to lower expectations.
"It is very important not to have some overexcited, emotional expectations here," Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia's Channel One on Monday.
Asked by ABC News White House correspondent Karen Travers if the White House's message was also to not have high expectations, White House press secretary Jen Psaki replied, "I think it is."
"The president is not going to hold back in conveying his concern," Psaki told another reporter.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that Russia's "escalation" was "an immediate threat."
"The stakes for the president's call couldn't be clearer," McConnell said during remarks on the Senate floor.
In addition to Ukraine, Biden also spoken about strategic stability, ransomware and "joint work on regional issues such as Iran," the White House said.
The White House has made clear the U.S. is ready to support allies in the region if Russia decides to move forward with a military invasion in Ukraine.
"I think you could anticipate that in the event of an invasion, the need to reinforce the confidence and reassurance of our NATO allies and our eastern flank allies would be real, and the United States would be prepared to provide that kind of reassurance," the senior official said Monday. "That's just sort of applying the lessons of 2014 to 2021."
Notably, the official wouldn't specify whether that "reassurance" would come in the form of sanctions, U.S. forces, capabilities, or all of the above, nor what the hair trigger is for the support.
The official wouldn't go so far as to say outright that Biden would warn Putin the U.S. military could be used if the Russian military moves into Ukraine.
After Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, the U.S. and the European Union leveled economic sanctions against Russia, and Russia was kicked out of the "Group of Eight" industrialized nations.
The United States also sent 600 troops to eastern Europe in a show of solidarity with Baltic nations on Russia's border. That deployment has morphed into a rotating set of relatively small U.S. deployments to eastern European nations.
"I don't want to use a public press call to talk about the particular sensitive challenges that President Biden will lay out for President Putin," the official said of Tuesday's call. "But I would say that the United States is not seeking to end up in a circumstance in which the focus of our countermeasures is the direct use of American military force, as opposed to a combination of support for the Ukrainian military, strong economic countermeasures, and substantial increase in support and capability to our NATO allies to ensure they remain safe."
In short: Biden will "make clear that there will be very real cost should Russia choose to proceed, but he will also make clear that there is an effective way forward with respect to diplomacy," the official said.
The administration's preferred option for response to any Russian aggression would be a series of economic sanctions in concert with European partners, and the official warned those would be "severe."
"We believe that we have a path forward that would involve substantial economic countermeasures by both the Europeans and the United States that would impose significant and severe economic harm on the Russian economy, should they choose to proceed. I'm not going to get into the specific details of that, but we believe that there is a way forward here that will allow us to send a clear message to Russia, that there will be genuine and meaningful and enduring costs to choosing to go forward should they choose to go forward with a military escalation in Ukraine," the official warned.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday ahead of Biden's call with Putin, and Zelenskytweetedthat he had "agreed positions" with Blinken.
"Grateful to strategic partners & allies for the continued support of our sovereignty & territorial integrity," Zelensky wrote.
Biden himself will call Zelenskyy to provide a readout of his conversation with Putin afterward, the official said.
