The Western media gave their opinions on the conversation between Russian and US presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden. Most of them agreed that the two leaders were trying to “create a landscape” for the upcoming security talks and left room for a diplomatic solution to the situation around Ukraine
Thus, US publications were interested in the question of which of the leaders acted from a position of strength and whether Putin was “using” Biden for his own purposes. The European media were most concerned with the issue of gas prices in Europe.
The U.S. edition of the Wall Street Journal wrote that Putin and Biden warned each other during their conversation of the “possibility of a dangerous deterioration in relations,” but kept open the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the situation around Ukraine.
Another US publication, the New York Times, noted that both sides were trying to lay the groundwork for the upcoming talks in Geneva and later in Brussels and Vienna.
The French newspaper Monde wrote that the presidents discussed the European security “architecture” during the conversation, but “without much progress”. However, the leaders’ conversation “launched a new diplomatic cycle” and aims to “defuse tensions not seen since the end of the Cold War”.
The British Financial Times noted that the conversation between the two leaders took place amid “debate about Russia’s role in rising gas prices in Europe,” which are hovering around $1,000 per thousand cubic metres. Earlier, a number of European politicians accused Gazprom of refusing to supply additional fuel volumes in order to launch Nord Stream 2 as soon as possible. However, Putin said that Gazprom was supplying all the gas requested by its counterparties under existing contracts, moreover, it had even increased supplies to the far abroad, including European countries.
Another British newspaper, the Times, which had previously written that Russia could allegedly use migrants from Belarus to cut off the Baltics from its NATO allies in a couple of hours, pointed out that the conversation between Putin and Biden took place shortly after Moscow and Minsk announced plans for a joint exercise.
Recall that Russia and the US will hold talks on 10 January on arms control and the situation in Ukraine.