Russian President Vladimir Putin will listen to Joe Biden's proposals on Ukraine "with great interest", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday ahead of a video call between the two presidents scheduled for the following day.
"We have heard the statement of the US president that he is going to this videoconference with concrete proposals on Ukraine", Peskov said. "I mean, probably, it will be about the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. It is important. I think that President Putin will listen to these proposals with great interest. And it will be possible to understand how much they are able to relieve tension".
He outlined that there is just one way to alleviate the tensions in Ukraine, which is to make sure that Kiev does not attempt to solve the problem in the Donbass region by force.
Putin and Biden, who will talk on Tuesday evening, are set to discuss a wide range of acute issues, ranging from US-Russia relations to international affairs.
The Kremlin spokesman noted that it is difficult to expect any breakthroughs from the Tuesday call. Still, despite the currently strained bilateral relations between Russia and the US, Peskov said that there is dialogue in several areas.
"We have such huge Augean stables in bilateral relations now that it is hardly possible to clear them out in a few hours of conversation", he said. "Therefore, let's at least hope that the leaders will be able to convey the concerns to each other, to clearly articulate each other's concerns and respond to them".
Tuesday’s conversation will mark the second time the two presidents hold negotiations. Earlier, in June, Putin and Biden met in the Swiss city of Geneva, with the summit prompting consultations between Russia and the US on strategic stability, cybersecurity, and other areas.
The second meeting is set to touch upon issues that have been "making noise" recently, as Peskov put it when commenting on the upcoming video call earlier on Monday. Particularly, Putin and Biden are expected to discuss the tensions in Ukraine, which have escalated amid allegations that Moscow is planning an "invasion" of the neighbouring country. Joe Biden earlier vowed that he would make it "very, very difficult" for Russia to attack Ukraine.
The Kremlin has, however, repeatedly dismissed the slew of media reports fuelling the "invasion" narrative, underscoring that Moscow does not have plans to "attack" anyone. Particularly, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova took verbal shots at the German tabloid Bild for "fantasising" about Putin's purported "invasion plan".