{"id":1098248,"date":"2021-12-08T11:13:47","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T16:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1098248"},"modified":"2021-12-08T11:13:51","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T16:13:51","slug":"there-were-jokes-russia-celebrates-friendly-biden-call-with-putin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/there-were-jokes-russia-celebrates-friendly-biden-call-with-putin\/","title":{"rendered":"&#039;There Were Jokes&#039;: Russia Celebrates Friendly Biden Call with Putin"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthere-were-jokes-russia-celebrates-friendly-biden-call-with-putin%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1098248&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">The Kremlin endeavored to depict a video call between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and American President Joe Biden as a friendly chat between old friends \u2013 not the tense showdown the White House described \u2013 on Wednesday, noting the two spoke for hours and made several jokes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe conversation was quite frank and businesslike, but, at the same time, there were jokes and exchange of pleasantries as well,\u201d Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin aid, told reporters, according to the Russian news agency Tass. \u201cThe conversation lasted two hours, we noted down the time. The president[s] were talking for two hours precisely, it was held in the format of a closed video conference.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Tass reported that Ushakov told reporters that both leaders made \u201cseveral jokes\u201d amid discussion of \u201csensitive\u201d issues.<\/p>\n<p>The White House endeavored to detail to reporters a tense discussion in which Biden laid down the law to Putin in response to Russia\u2019s expanding military presence on the border with Ukraine. Putin, who has openly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/id\/wbna7632057\">romanticized<\/a> the murderous Soviet Union, has spent much of the past 20 years attempting to colonize its neighbors, first <a href=\"https:\/\/warontherocks.com\/2018\/08\/the-august-war-ten-years-on-a-retrospective-on-the-russo-georgian-war\/\">invading<\/a> Georgia in 2008 and then invading and colonizing Ukraine\u2019s Crimean peninsula in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Ukraine has experienced what Russia claims to be an ongoing civil war for years on its eastern border, where pro-Russia elements have attempted to secede and <a href=\"https:\/\/mfa.gov.ua\/en\/temporary-occupation-territories-donetsk-and-luhansk-regions\">establish<\/a> the \u201crepublics\u201d of Donetsk and Luhansk. Kyiv insists that the conflict is not a civil war but an \u201cundeclared war\u201d launched by Russia against Ukraine.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_19046386\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"36\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1357756005.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-19046386\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1357756005-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt width=\"990\" height=\"660\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan calls on reporters while taking questions about President Joe Biden\u2019s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on December 07, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla\/Getty)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cPresident Biden voiced the deep concerns of the United States and our European Allies about Russia\u2019s escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine,\u201d the White House readout of the call between Biden and Putin published Tuesday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2021\/12\/07\/readout-of-president-bidens-video-call-with-president-vladimir-putin-of-russia\/\">read<\/a>, \u201cand made clear that the U.S. and our Allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/12\/07\/biden-warns-putin-he-will-be-tougher-than-barack-obama-to-protect-ukraine\/\">told<\/a> reporters that Biden \u201clooked President Putin in the eye and told him today, that things we did not do in 2014, we are prepared to do now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Obama White House did <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2014\/03\/21\/putin-signs-bills-to-complete-annexation-of-crimea-to-russia\/\">nothing<\/a> in response to the colonization of Crimea in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Ushakov, the Kremlin aide, <a href=\"https:\/\/tass.com\/world\/1372369\">told<\/a> reporters that a Russian invasion of Ukraine \u201cwas not even mentioned!\u201d during the call.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo send troops to Ukraine \u2013 how, what is it? A some kind of invasion or what? It was not even mentioned!\u201d Ushakov said in response to being asked if Putin guaranteed that he would not invade Ukraine on the call.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Ushakov also dismissed Biden\u2019s alleged threat that the United States would sanction Russia in the event of an invasion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll that was said before that in public and was brought to us via various channels, has been said now, but in a rather acceptable form, worthy of the presidential level,\u201d Ushakov said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>The Kremlin readout of the call minimized the importance of the Ukraine situation, emphasizing instead that Putin and Biden allegedly \u201crecalled the alliance of the two countries during the Second World War\u201d \u2013 Tuesday was the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor \u2013 and that Putin lectured Biden on the Ukrainian government\u2019s alleged irresponsibility and untrustworthiness:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"13\">\n<p>The predominant place in the conversation was occupied by problems related to the internal Ukrainian crisis and the lack of progress in the implementation of the 2015 Minsk agreements, which are the uncontested basis for a peaceful settlement. The President of Russia, using specific examples, illustrated the destructive line of Kiev, aimed at the complete dismantling of the Minsk agreements and agreements reached in the \u201cNormandy format\u201d, expressed serious concern about Kiev\u2019s provocative actions against Donbass.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cAside from being about the same meeting, the two statements had little in common,\u201d Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty (RFE\/RL), a U.S. government outlet, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rferl.org\/a\/biden-putin-talks-analysis\/31599058.html\">observed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Kyiv has yet to respond to the discussion between Biden and Putin, likely due to the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/administration\/584756-biden-to-speak-thursday-with-ukrainian-president-after-call-with\">scheduled<\/a> a call with Biden himself for Thursday. Zelensky began the week, however, with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ukrinform.net\/rubric-defense\/3363873-zelensky-visits-front-line-in-eastern-ukraine.html\">visit<\/a> to the front lines of the Russo-Ukrainian War to boost soldier morale, a region that Zelensky has prioritized visiting in person, particularly in comparison to previous Ukrainian presidents.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Zelensky\u2019s departure from conventional Ukrainian politics is in part the result of him arriving at the presidency without being part of the political establishment: he became a viable presidential candidate by playing the fictional Ukrainian president in a sitcom.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19046418\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"36\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1357756903.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-19046418\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1357756903-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt width=\"990\" height=\"660\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki talks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room following President Joe Biden\u2019s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the White House on December 07, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Biden \u2013 whose family has enjoyed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2021\/06\/15\/hunter-bidens-father-says-ukraine-too-corrupt-join-nato\/\">questionable<\/a>, at best, ties to Ukrainian oligarchs \u2013 has repeatedly snubbed Zelensky in his Russia foreign policy, ignoring the Ukrainian president\u2019s pleas to sanction Russia\u2019s Nordstream 2 pipeline and repeatedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2021\/07\/21\/biden-again-snubs-ukrainian-president-no-july-meeting\/\">putting off<\/a> a promised invite to the White House.<\/p>\n<p>An irate Zelensky <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/06\/07\/ukraines-zelensky-unpleasantly-surprised-disappointed-by-biden-pro-putin-policies\/\">ranted<\/a> about Biden\u2019s inexplicably weak Russia policy \u2013 in particular, refusing to sanction the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project that would grant Russia outsized influence in Europe \u2013 in July to the Washington outlet Axios.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt still seems to me that Nord Stream 2 \u2026 we understand that this is a weapon, a real weapon, and I speak openly about it,\u201d Zelensky said. \u201cA weapon in the hands of the Russian Federation, and it is not very understandable, I feel, and definitely not expected, that the bullets to this weapon can possibly be provided by such a great country as the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zelensky said he found out Biden would not sanction the project from public reports in news media and was \u201cvery unpleasantly surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden reportedly threatened to sanction Nordstream 2 in his call with Putin on Tuesday, but only if he first formally invaded Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frances Martel on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639046249803000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2p7g6WTgH0jilz5Yqus6h8\">Facebook<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639046249803000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0vxYj4xYhinkzfIKqu8Cyi\">Twitter.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Kremlin endeavored to depict a video call between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and American President Joe Biden as a friendly chat between old friends \u2013 not the tense showdown &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1098248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1098248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1098248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1098248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1098248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1098248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1098248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}