kristen is some so island officially 100 percent with winds of change on al jazeera. ah. ready hello lauren taylor, not in the top stories on al jazeera. the kremlin says a video cool between the russian and u. s. leaders was frank and professional, but insisted tensions over ukraine. we're not a tall vladimir putin's fault. president joe biden and veteran putin spoke via video link for more than 2 hours, during which biden threatened economic sanctions against russia. if, as any military escalation, u. s. and its allies are concerned, russia is planning to invade its neighbor. after massing tens of thousands of troops near the border, russia denies any such plans and describes the accusations as hysteria. what we

know from a senior administration official is that the message that you as president joe biden intended to convey is that there would be inflicted on russia, polishing, economic and financial sanctions if it chose to invade ukraine. now what we know is that in terms of those sanctions, this could mean that it would essentially isolate russia from the global financial system. this would be done in coordination with european allies, including italy, the u. k. france and germany. and he's 38 people, have been killed in a fire at the main prison in burn these political capital dozens more were injured in the early morning, blaise and take their reports. the foss service didn't arrive on the scene until 2 hours after it started. interior ministry says the fire was caused by an electrical problem. the prison was home to more than 1500 inmates far above its capacity of 400. welcome, which has war from kenya's capital nairobi. bern,

these vice president has visited the scene. he said that dozens of died, and many more were injured. these red cross came to the scene, some of the injured retreated, the others were taken to hospital room. these interior ministry said that the cause of the fire was an electrical short circuit. the interior ministry, those they said that there was a fire 4 months ago at the same prison also caused by an electrical short circuit. but on that occasion there were no casualties. overcrowding is common in burn these prison despite a presidential pardon 6 months ago that resulted in 5000 prisoners being released a c o p prime minister avia that says his country's forces will continue to take back areas from tick ryan rebels. it comes a day off to the government said it had recaptured 2 key towns, jesse and come boca from the to garage people's liberation front. the towns which lie on a key road for me to grind to the capital i discover,

was seized by rebel forces just over a month ago. a year long contract is killed. thousands of people displaced more than 2000000 and driven hundreds of thousands into famine like conditions such. but with that, we will continue liberating. the remaining areas of the country than of the victory will continue and nothing will stop us. the enemy will be destroy, any mean came to meet rob from humiliates us, as you can see, they couldn't stand against a lot of that has take you straight to the white house in this min to jackie, the white house press secretary and with her is the national security advisor jake sullivan, that'll turn over to j. thanks. jasmine, good to see everybody here today. as you all know, president biden held a secure video call today with president putin. the call covered a range of issues, but the main topic was ukraine. president biden was direct and straightforward with

president putin, as he always is. he reiterated america's support for ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity. he told president, booting directly that of russia further invade ukraine, the united states and our european allies would respond with strong economic measures. we would provide additional defensive material to the ukrainians above and beyond that, which we are already providing. and we would fortify our nato allies on the eastern flank with additional capabilities in response to such an escalation. he also told president putin, there's another option, de escalation and diplomacy. the united states and our european allies would engage in a discussion that covers larger strategic issues, including our strategic concerns with russia and russia strategic concerns. we managed to do this at the height of the cold war, and we develop mechanisms to help reduce instability and increase transparency. we've done this in the post cold war era through the nato, russia, council, the o s. c, e, and other mechanisms. there's no reason we can't do that forward going forward,

provided that we are operating in a context of de escalation rather than escalation. the united states, as we have been for some time, is also prepared to support efforts to advance the minsk agreement in support of the normandy format. this could include a ceasefire and confidence building measures that helps drive the process forward. as i said before, the discussion between president vine and president putin was direct and straightforward. there was a lot of give and take. there was no finger wagging, but the president was crystal clear about where the united states stands on all of these issues. we believe from the beginning of this administration that there is no substitute for direct dialogue between leaders. and that is true in spades when it comes to the us russia relationship. so president biden welcomed the opportunity to engage clearly and directly with president putin. indeed, as president biden said, after his meeting in geneva, in june with president putin,

where we have differences. i want president putin understand why i say what i say and why i do what i do and how will respond to specific kinds of actions that harm america's interests and indeed harm our allies interests. that's exactly what he did today. after the call, he spoke with the leaders of france, germany, italy, and the u. k. to debrief them on the call and consult on the way forward our team. as presently debriefing, the embassies of nato members, you members and key and o pacific allies. the president will be speaking shortly with the leaders of both houses of congress and talking to them about ways in which the administration and the congress can work together on a bipartisan basis. to stand up for american interest and values and stand behind our friends and parkers. and president biden will be speaking with president lensky on thursday following. i'm yesterday's discussion between president, so etzky and secretary blinking. in terms of next steps, the president,

president putin agreed that our teams will follow up on the issues discussed today . the president and our europe, his european colleagues, agreed that our teams will work together to ensure that our engagement with russia going forward. both involves and as closely coordinated with european allies and partners, so that we are all on the same page. there's a lot of work to do in the days ahead. as we pursue diplomatic channels, we will also prepare for all contingencies, just as we have been doing for weeks now, including through the preparation of specific responses to russian escalation. should they be required? speak a thick, robust, clear responses. should they be required? that's where things stand as we speak. and with that, i'd be happy to take your questions. yes. do elaborate on with i'm fortifying allies on the plane there is sending do as we get on the table here. so what i'm referring to there is in the event that there is a further invasion into ukraine, a military escalation,

you in ukraine. obviously many of our partners on the eastern front are booked up our baltic allies, romania, poland. other countries will be increasingly concerned about the security and territorial integrity of their countries. they will be seeking, we expect additional capabilities and potentially additional deployments in the united states will be looking to respond positively to those things. in the event that there is a further incursion into ukraine for publishing for a sophomore, the possibility of seeing american troops on the ground in that region, mainly that flag couldn't go through with it. i don't know if i would say bracing for since we currently have rotational deployments in the baltics. we conduct exercises on a regular basis in both poland and romania, the presence of american military service members in rotational fashion in these countries is not something new. the question here is not that about whether or not the united states is going to send american service members to the territory of our

nato allies. we do that as a matter of course. the question is, what additional capabilities can we provide to ensure that they feel strong and confident in their own sovereignty and territorial integrity? it is those additional capabilities that are on the table in those countries. i should i russia move in ukraine and in a more decisive way. the days leading up to this call, the white house and administration officials said repeatedly, they are assessment so far with me. not made a decision over whether to the main frame, the different. anybody get clarity from him on whether isn't we still do not believe the president putin has made a decision. what president biden did to day was lay out very clearly the consequences if he chooses to move. he also laid out an alternative path, an alternative path that is fundamentally in keeping with the basic principles and propositions that have guided america in the euro, atlantic area for the past 70 years. and ultimately,

we will see in the days ahead through actions, not through words what course of action russia chooses today. yesterday. in fact, one quick follow up in your face the result of the call. he said that the united brother findings in the united states is ready to take strong economic measure. the other option if needed. what are the other measures that they've done? it? i just spelled those out in my opening remarks, both the supply and provision of additional material, as well as the additional deployment of assets and capabilities to, to nato members. in the event that there is it further what, what are the economic measure? and how are they different from the ones you put on russia in 2014, which didn't deter rush from taking crimea pliable? what are they, and why do you think they'll look better this time? i will look in the eye and tell you as president biden looked, president putin in the eye and told him today that things we did not do in 2014. we

are prepared to do now. now in terms of the specifics, we would prefer to communicate that directly to the russians, to not negotiate and public to not telegraph our punches, but we are laying out for the russians in some detail. the types of measures that we have in mind. we are also coordinating very closely with our european allies on that at a level of deep specificity. we have experts from the treasury department, the state department, and the national security council in daily contact with the key capitols in with brussels to work through that package of measures. but i think it is not profitable for us to lay out the specifics of it. standing here at this podium today, past or present by going to commit to not allow nato r e grant to join nato. and he did hasn't by making any kind of concessions, such as reduced us president or any man, mon nato. and he crane membership. i'm not going to characterize president putin side of the conversation and or go into details in terms of what they discuss.

because i think they need to have that space to be able to have a robust exchange. but i will tell you clearly, indirectly he made no such commitments or concessions. he stands by the proposition, the country should be able to freely choose who they so sign. i'll let you for that . you're going to sound humble of question. how quickly can that be delivered? we have an ongoing pipeline that delivers various forms of defensive assistance to ukraine. indeed, there was the delivery of defensive assistance to ukraine just very recently, and that will continue. so it really depends on the type or form. but it's, this should not be thought of as, ah, a circumstance in which you completely turn off the dial or turn on the dial. there is an ongoing pipeline whether that pipeline needs additional supplements as we go forward, will depend on how circumstances evolve. yes, you have said that the administration will actually,

if russia does escalate militarily, satellite images show that hundreds of russian troops are a math thing on the border with ukraine if they're already a military escalation on the way. why wait to take action? so our view on this is that the fundamental object of the policy, the united states, is pursuing in lockstep with our european allies, is to deter a russian military invasion, a further territory of ukraine. and the measures we have put on the table are designed to show the russian government that shouldn't choose to engage in such an invasion. there will be those consequences that for us is a clear and decisive lay down i. and we also believe that there should be an alternative pathway by which we can make progress on diplomacy in the don boss through the minsk agreement and the normandy format. and by which we can address

nato and american security concerns and russian security concerns through a larger mechanism. consistent with the way we've operated. over the course of the past 30 years, huggins are using the design of the week on president a site. the fact that eventually we're east on north street to and the withdrawal from afghanistan, which was widely criticized. how do you respond to that criticism? president mine? he couldn't make 3 points. the 1st is that i vladimir putin standing behind. then president magneto in 2008 invaded georgia when we had a 150000 or more troops deployed in iraq and afghanistan. so the connection between our deployments in foreign wars and the calculus of russian leaders when it comes to the post soviet space. there's not good evidence to support that. number 2, when it comes to north street to the fact is the gas is not currently flowing

through the north street to pipeline. which means that it's not operating, which means that it's not leverage for putin indeed. i, it is. i leverage for the west because if vladimir putin wants to see gas flow through that pipeline, he may not want to take the risk of invading ukraine. and then number 3, the president has shown over the course of the past 8 months, that he will do what he says he's going to do in response to russian action. so president putin can count on that. he said he would impose costs for an a volley. he said he would impose cost for solar winds. he did those things, and if rusher chooses to take these actions, he, i to avert a potential crisis with respect to an invasion. i was interested in reading the starting popular new european security. if you bring this up in person, i agree to sort of again, i'm not gonna get into the details are characterized with president putin said, ah,

and i will save. it took formal agreements for formal treaties were not on the table in the conversation today by the straightforward notion that the united states flanked by our european allies and partners, would be prepared to talk to russia about strategic issues in the european theater i. that was on the table and we are prepared to do that as we've been prepared to do that throughout both the cold war and post cold war era's. what the right mechanism for that is what the agenda for that is and what comes of that, that is all to be worked out as, ah, we see how thing proceed in the coming days out since late october. why hasn't the u. s. given additional material to ukraine, yet this has been escalating for weeks. why? as i just pointed out, i in response to an earlier question, we are continuing to deliver a defensive material assistance to ukraine. we have done so just in the past few

days around the criminal. i've read over the president's proposal president, i'm been both live all restrictions on diplomatic mission that have been imposed in the recent news. can you say whether that, that my president biden is open to, or whether it's something that he spoke to on the call? president biden is open to creating functioning diplomatic missions in both countries. but he didn't make any specific commitments with respect to the best pathway to do that. what he said was that his leaders present binding president putin should direct their teams to figure out how we ensure that the embassy platform in moscow is able to function effectively. and as we believe the embassy platform here in washington is able to operate effectively for the call up on north street. have you found any message or have any meetings? would be incoming german government on this issue? are you birching the new incoming government to defend please threatening to support for the pipeline given there is an incursion of further encouragement. and we've had intensive discussions with both the outgoing and incoming german

government on the issue of north street to in the context of a potential invasion. i'm not going to characterize it beyond that other than it. is it an object of great priority for the buy to buy for his waiver on that? so the, obviously, the seller has been watched by a number of other adverse reasons, including chinese president heating being some observers have described nightmares scenario where president clinton evades ukraine. although simultaneously had the president she uses forest through unified taiwanda. china is the us prepared to deal with fraction the not states is going to take every action that we can take from the point of view of both deterrence and diplomacy. to make sure that the taiwan scenario you just described, never happens, and to try to avert the invasion and deter the invasion into ukraine. that is the object of our policy right now. those are the steps we're taking. that's what

president biden is doing in the messages that he sending to president putin and with respect to taiwan. the sum total of the efforts we've undertaken over the course of the past 8 months in the indo pacific have also all been geared towards avoiding any kind of scenario. we're right where china chooses to. yeah, that promise on the russian side. use leverage. we change iran on his position. the prudent had a good discussion on the iran issue. it was productive. russia in the united states actually worked well together, even intent circumstances back in the 20142015 period to produce the joint comprehensive plan of action. this is an area where russia in the united states can continue to consult, closely to ensure that iran never requires. and why did you pay the whole person? neither. there was any to fill that with putting out the information and then came there after the meeting with and so i'm not gonna characterize the decision making

of the ukrainian government only to say that we are in daily contact with senior officials in the ukrainian government. i'm in nearly daily contact with my counterpart, ukrainian government, and we believe that we are seeing a common threat picture here. and our message to our friends in the ukranian government, as our message was to day to president putin, is that the united states supports the men's process, wants to see progress made towards the ceasefire towards confidence building measures. and that is the best way for a world say her to day after that conversation between the 2 leaders for let's say, and then i have a fall of his answer. so all i will say is that the ultimate metric for whether the world a safer or not is facts on the ground and actions taken in this case by russia.

let's see, we are prepared to deal with any contingency as i said at the outset, and i'm not going to make predictions or characterizations. i'm only going to say that that president biden will continue to do all of the necessary proven planning for a variety of different pathways that can address it in the belief that reason, if it's going to have you do the obama, the lifting sanctions freeze, millions of dollars to that, that regime that it's going to be spread for the property that has been the husband became stronger and stronger from the money that obama gave to this particular ha melisha. so is it this going to happen? you gotta address that broke is of iran this time at the table will the negotiation . so i'd make 3 points in response to that. since donald trump made the decision to pull the united states out of the iran nuclear deal in 2018. his bala has continued to menace lebanon and the region. iran's proxies in iraq and syria and yemen have continued to move forward, so not being in the nuclear deal has hardly been

a solution to the proxy. second, nothing about the nuclear deal stops the united states has capacity to deal with those proxies. and we are prepared to do so in fact, in response to attacks on american forces in iraq, the united states has twice under president biden taken action. i direct military action in response to those proxies. in addition to undertaking sanctions. and 3rd, ultimately, an iran with a nuclear weapon is going to be a greater menace in partnerships with its proxies than iran without one. and so it is our determination to ensure they never get a nuclear weapon. and diplomacy is the best good on the wrong. you know, they were in the know that he going back to the verification. the demonstration criticize them last week and they said they were not curious. in fact, date of birth to program. what makes you think that, that actually the odyssey at this time and how much of

a time you willing to do it. and secondly, you can't afford to negotiate when you're alive and coordinate with the counterpart in this visit into her on as we speak. so if this natural effect from the emergence to do it or to reach to the head on or you think this is a coordinated if i for the united i'll put this quite simply, the more ron demonstrates a lack of seriousness at the negotiating table. the more unity there is among the p 5 plus one, and the more they will be exposed as the isolated party in this negotiation. so really the ball is in iran's court as to whether it wants to show up and demonstrate that it's going to be serious or not. they don't. yeah, i'm looking forward to meeting with funk different president sol as he later this week. are there any steps? recall prices you might be able to find a way to end this peacefully. so again, as i mentioned before,

we're in constant contact with senior levels of ukrainian government secretary blank and just spoke with president lensky yesterday. i'm not going to characterize the specifics of their proposals. but they have come forward with constructive ideas for how to move the diplomacy forward. we're encouraging that. those are steps they're taking. they're asking the united states to support them in trying to get i towards a cease fire and then ultimately get down the track of diplomatic resolution. we believe that that is good and positive. and i believe the president, by new presidents lensky, will discuss that diplomatic pathway. but i spent, i, he said, yes, he wants to risk the pipeline and turn down. have you made clear to allies that you will. in fact, thanks. and the remaining entities that are involved in that project. if there is an invasion and have you received any assurances from germany when tensor merkel was here, there was a discussion about what to do it. russia weapon,

gas supplies that i think came at that even though there was some pretty favorite rattling by the russians. and in recent months, have you now received assurances from germany that they will in fact not proceed with. so in response to an earlier question, i said i wasn't gonna get into these specific sanctions measures that we intend to impose, although we will be communicating those directly to our russian counterparts. and we will be working through them detail by detail with our european counterparts. what i will tell you is that the subject of the future of nord stream to in the context of an invasion of ukraine by russia in the coming weeks is a topic of utmost priority. it has been discussed thoroughly. i'm gonna leave it at that for today. i saw that movie, so ha, ha, the station between the united states and russia effect. because and my 2nd

question is, how the use them are i this meeting? he was productive. he was good, went out, it was a useful meeting. it was useful in the sense that it allowed president biden to lay out in clear, direct and candid terms where the unit it's united states stands on this issue. and to do so, having coordinated closely with his allies and partners beforehand. and also to talk about a potential way forward and how i've now i'm on the question of african partners. this is true, the world over the attempt to change the territories of another country by force should be vigorously opposed by every country in the world, including every country. oh not what was hooton's demeanor over the course of the 2 hours? did you signal any willingness to back down again, i just make it a practice not to characterize the other sides position. he can speak for himself. i would say that his demeanor, like president biden's demeanor,

was direct and straightforward. and again, as i said in my opening remarks, this was a real discussion. it was given take, it was not speeches, it was back and forth. and president putin was deeply engaged. and i'm, and i'm going to leave it at that in terms of trying to characterize where he is. all i can tell you is there is a task in coming out of that meeting by the 2 presidents to their teams, to start talking about how we might think about the diplomatic path. the president made clear throughout that diplomacy has to come in the context of de escalation rather than escalation. and now we will watch what unfolds. in the coming days, i sent missouri national security advisor james sullivan, characterizing the putin by didn't summit. there is direct and straightforward reiterating that to he he said that to biden in medicaid, if russian made ukraine u. s. and its allies will respond with economic measures. he didn't spell out exactly what those would be, but he also said that they would fortify nato allies in the region. and also there

was another option. he said to de escalate and his bring in. but a smith who's live in moscow as one of the things that tab putin had asked for, was a guarantees over a nato. and it seems that that no concessions regarding how nation decides membership was the line from sullivan there. so putting on that hasn't got what he wanted. and while he's there, he's governor lakes. no master. the white house has been speaking the kremlin has also issued its own statement of how the talks back went. his own interpretation of a vladimir putin. we're told, told joe biden, that responsibility should not be shifted to russia, put on russia shoulders, because nato, they said, is making dangerous attempts to take control of ukraine. let me put in toll joe biden, that guarantee a wanted guarantees that offensive strike systems would not be deployed in countries close to russia. we don't know if the white house biden is given in those

guarantees who vladimir putin says that nato is building up his military infrastructure near russia's borders. and he expressed to resume putin expressed concerns about what he calls caves allegedly provocative actions towards ukrainian region controlled by russian backed separatists. the kremlin is essentially characterizing what's happening in ukraine as an internal crisis. and the concern of crisis brought about by a lack of implicate in implementation with the 2015 minsk agreements. these with agreements are brought about the ceasefire. and the agreements were supposed to include both sides with drawing heavy weapons, allowing elections to go ahead in the russian air, in the area controlled by russian separatists of ukraine. they are saying at least both leaders are saying that they will continue their dialogue. yes, the us said, he's gonna make it clear the risks to russia if it goes ahead to invade the right the, what are the crown in here says they've got lots of complaints of their own,

but at least both sides say they will continue talk. one thing that was mentioned in the questions there was that that j sullivan said they were things we did not do in 2014 in terms of sanctions and so on. and they wouldn't, we would be prepared to do now. and then he said he wouldn't be drawn in public as to what that was. it is that something what you're going to take on what that means while there's been taught that the could be much harder us the financial sanctions taken against russia. this could, for example, include a cutting rusher off.