The Kremlin: Putin and Biden summit on Tuesday The latter is strengthening its pressure on Ukraine

The Kremlin said that "the Russian and American presidents will focus their discussions on the Ukraine crisis and bilateral relations on Tuesday." While the Russian Foreign Ministry denied allegations about its possible attack on Ukraine, Washington increased its pressure, stressing its defense of Ukraine if it was invaded.

The Kremlin told Reuters on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden will focus their discussions on the Ukraine crisis, bilateral relations and the implementation of the agreements reached at their summit last June.

Putin and Biden met at the time in Geneva, but the US president has since focused his diplomatic efforts on the competition between his country and China.

Earlier, a White House official said that "the talks on Tuesday will take place between the two presidents via closed-circuit television."

In the same context, the Washington Post reported Friday that "Russia is preparing to launch an attack on Ukraine, involving tens of thousands of soldiers, early next year."

The newspaper quoted a senior US official, who asked not to be identified, that "Moscow is preparing to launch 100 battalions consisting of tactical groups with a force of 175,000 men, along with tanks, artillery and other equipment."

On the other hand, the Russian newspaper, Kommersant, quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying, "Russia denied the validity of new reports in the American media about a possible Russian attack on Ukraine, accusing Washington of trying to escalate the situation and holding Moscow responsible."

"The United States is carrying out a special operation that shows that the situation around Ukraine is deteriorating while shifting responsibility to Russia," the newspaper quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying.

She added, "It is based on provocative actions near the borders of Russia, accompanied by a letter of accusation."

American tools to deter the invasion

For his part, Biden increased his pressure on Moscow, stressing that he was preparing "initiatives" to defend Ukraine if it was invaded.

After confirming that he was in constant contact with US and Ukrainian allies, the US president said, "I am preparing what I think will become, a set of initiatives that will be the most complete and the best that will become very, very difficult for Putin to do what people are afraid to do."

"There is a series of tools at our disposal," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, noting that "economic sanctions are certainly an option," while she did not respond to a question about possible US military operations.

"We continue to support de-escalation in the region and a diplomatic solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine," said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Tony Semmelroth.

NATO

For its part, Kiev absolutely refuses to abandon its project to join the alliance, which has been officially on the table since 2008, but it has remained a dead letter.

Kiev's accession to the military alliance will mean that other member states, led by the United States, will be required to intervene militarily to defend Ukraine in the event of aggression.

And the diplomatic process is sensitive to Biden. The Democratic president certainly wants to be the spokesperson for democracies in the face of authoritarian regimes in the world, and he also wants to reform the traditional alliances of the United States that his predecessor, Donald Trump, undermined.

But on the other hand, the President of the United States, who ended twenty years of military intervention in Afghanistan, no longer wants to involve American forces in major open conflicts.

Biden makes no less of his strong statements against Russia, especially against its president, Putin, who has publicly called him a killer, and the White House man does not hide his impatience with corruption and governance problems in Ukraine.