Putin Told Biden During Call Russian Troops Located Within Country's Borders Pose No Threat

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden held a video conversation on Tuesday, discussing acute issues like the situation in Ukraine, bilateral relations, and other topics.

President Putin outlined to Joe Biden during their video summit that Russian forces are deployed on the nation's territory, not Ukraine, and do not pose a threat to anyone, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

According to Peskov, Putin stressed that the US president was speaking about Russian troops stationed within the country's borders while being thousands of kilometres away from Russian territory.

Elaborating on Tuesday's call between Putin and Biden, the Kremlin spokesman said that the conversation was "respectful", adding that "scary stories" fuelled by the US media that Biden tried to "frighten" Putin were not true.

Among the many pressing issues discussed by the two presidents was the concept of "red lines". During the Tuesday call, Putin stressed that these "red lines" for Moscow include NATO's eastward expansion and the deployment of offensive weapons in the countries bordering Russia.

"Conceptually, it is a very serious disagreement between Russia and the United States", Peskov said.

Commenting on the allegations of a purported "Russian invasion" of Ukraine, the Kremlin spokesman suggested that the Americans "themselves" fell for the "fake news campaign" and believed it was true.

Since the start of the media campaign around the alleged "invasion", Russia has repeatedly underlined that Moscow does not plan to attack anyone. While Western countries expressed concerns regarding Russia "amassing troops" near the Ukrainian border, the Kremlin argued that it was the NATO alliance triggering concerns in Moscow as it moved its military equipment to Ukraine.

"We are talking about our own territory, the territory of the Russian Federation. And about Europe, which is our common home. Americans are on the other side of the ocean, that's what the president [Vladimir Putin] meant", Peskov explained. "And, of course, this whipping up of the informational tensions [...] is just being done with the aim of further demonising Russia and positioning it as a potential aggressor".

Per the Kremlin spokesman, Putin promised Biden that the two presidents will meet again and the Russian president would very much like for it to happen.

The two heads of state held a conversation on Tuesday via a secure video call, spending some two hours discussing acute issues such as the situation in Ukraine, regional issues like Iran, and topics such as strategic stability and ransomware.