A White House spokesman said President Biden had spoken with Vladimir Putin on the phone for an hour. The telephone conversation between the two presidents began at 11:04 a.m. and ended at 12:06 p.m. (1604 GMT) Eastern time.
The talks came as Washington and its allies warned that Russian troops could invade Ukraine at any moment.
The State Department has ordered most of its embassy staff to leave Ukraine and on Friday ordered citizens to leave the country within 48 hours. The Pentagon has said in a statement that it was withdrawing about 150 military trainers from Ukraine.
Earlier on Saturday, in a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin, the French president said that sincere talks were not compatible with escalating tensions in Ukraine.
According to a French presidential official, Biden and Macron will hold separate talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin after separate phone calls. Russia is preparing for an aggression against Ukraine. Nevertheless, we are very careful with Russia's military style to avoid the worst.
Washington said on Friday that Russia's invasion of Ukraine could begin with an air strike and that the strike could take place at any time, but Russia has repeatedly disagreed with Washington's statements on progress in the region. That it has gathered more than 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border to maintain its security against the aggression of NATO allies. Russia has accused Western countries of spreading lies to divert attention from their actions.
