JAKARTA - United States President Joe Biden told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday the West would respond decisively to any invasion of Ukraine, adding such a move would result in widespread suffering and isolate Moscow.
In a last-ditch effort to manage the escalating hostilities, the two men spoke by phone for an hour, a day after Washington and its allies warned Russia's military, which has 100,000 troops assembled near Ukraine, could strike at any moment. Moscow has dismissed the warning as "hysteria."
Neither side said there was a breakthrough. A senior official in President Biden's administration said the call was professional and substantive, but that there were no fundamental changes.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said President Putin told President Biden that Washington had failed to consider Russia's main concerns, and had not received "substantial answers" on key elements, including the expansion of NATO and the deployment of offensive troops to Ukraine.
A senior official in President Biden's administration said it was unclear whether President Putin was committed to diplomacy, even as he agreed to stay in touch with President Biden.
The call comes as Israel, Portugal and Belgium join a list of countries that have urged their citizens to leave Ukraine immediately.
Earlier on Saturday, the US State Department ordered most of its embassy staff to leave Ukraine. The Pentagon said it was recalling about 150 military trainers.
President Biden plans to compare notes with French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke with President Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday, according to the White House. President Biden's top military and diplomatic officials spoke with their Russian counterparts.
President Putin also spoke with President Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of Ukraine's northern neighbor Belarus, which is involved in major joint military exercises with Russia.
After President Macron's talks with President Putin, a French Presidential official said there was no indication from what President Putin told President Macron that Russia was preparing an attack on Ukraine.
"We remain very vigilant and alert to Russia's (military) posture to avoid the worst," the French official said.
Russia said on Saturday it had decided to "optimize" the number of its diplomatic staff in Ukraine, fearing a "provocation" by Kyiv or others. It said its embassies and consulates in Ukraine continued to carry out their primary functions.
Separately, a US official on Saturday said no one knew what President Putin had decided, but the steps Russia was taking "in sight" made them fear the worst.
President Biden told Putin during their call that the United States was pushing for diplomacy but was ready for "another scenario," the White House said.
Meanwhile in Kyiv, several thousand Ukrainians marched through the city center, chanting "Glory to Ukraine" and carrying banners saying "Ukraine will fight back" and "the invaders must die."
President Zelenskiy, who attended a police drill in the southern Kherson region, echoed Washington's assessment that a Russian attack could happen at any time, but stressed that it was important for Ukraine to remain calm.
"Our enemy's best friend is panic in our country," he said.
President Putin, jockeying for influence in post-Cold War Europe, is seeking security guarantees from President Biden to block Kyiv's entry into NATO, as well as missile deployments near Russia's borders.
Meanwhile, Washington regards many of the proposals as non-starters but has pushed the Kremlin to discuss them together with Washington and its European allies.
Moscow has repeatedly refuted Washington's version, saying it has deployed troops near the Ukrainian border to safeguard its own security against aggression by NATO allies.
Also on Saturday, the Russian military said it had used "appropriate means" to get US submarines to depart from Russian waters in the far east after the ship ignored Russian requests to leave, the Interfax news agency reported.
The submarine was detected near the Pacific Kuril Islands in Russian waters while Russia was conducting a naval exercise, the military was quoted as saying. The US government did not immediately comment.
To note, Washington plans to send an additional 3,000 troops to Poland, Ukraine's western neighbor, in the coming days to try to help reassure NATO allies, four US officials told Reuters. They are part of the 8,500 troops already on standby to be deployed to Europe if needed.
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