Ukraine war: Biden ‘prepared’ to speak with Putin

US president Joe Biden said he is “prepared to speak with” his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, about the war in Ukraine if the Russian leader shows an interest in bringing the nine-month-long conflict to an end.

“I am prepared to speak with Mr Putin if in fact there is an interest in him deciding he is looking for a way to end the war,” Mr Biden said, adding that he would only do so after consulting with Nato allies.

The remarks, which came at a press conference in Washington DC, during a bilateral summit with French president Emmanuel Macron, marked the furthest Mr Biden has gone yet in expressing an openness to discuss the war with Putin.

The US president said he has “no immediate plans” to contact the Russian leader, who has not yet indicated any willingness to bring the war to an end.

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“He hasn’t done that yet, if that’s the case, in consultation with my French and Nato friends I’ll be happy to sit down with Putin to see what he has in mind,” Mr Biden said.

[ Russia-Ukraine conflict: EU plans war crimes court ]

The comments came as the US hosted Macron on a three-day state visit, the first of the Biden administration and the second for the French president. Although the two leaders were at pains to cast their countries as staunch and historical allies, there have been growing tensions between the US and Europe in recent weeks as the war in Ukraine rages on.

The conflict has taken a deeper economic toll on Europe than the US by driving up energy prices steeply after Russia severely curtailed natural gas exports needed by households and companies across the EU.

Meanwhile, European countries have been stung by Mr Biden’s flagship climate legislation, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, and its $400 billion of incentives to fund the transition to green energy. France has been among its loudest critics, arguing that it unfairly skews competition by reserving tax credits and subsidies for US companies, which risks leading to job losses in the EU.

Mr Macron on Wednesday called the legislation “super aggressive” against European companies and warned that it risked “fragmenting the West” when unity was needed to navigate from the fallout of the war.

At the press conference, Mr Biden said he “makes no apology” for the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act, which includes subsidies for electric cars manufactured in the US and tax credits to promote industries such as renewable energy and batteries.

However, he signalled his willingness to make concessions over the law to appease EU concerns.

“There are tweaks that we can make that can fundamentally make it easier for European countries to participate or be on their own, but that still needs to be worked out,” Mr Biden said. “We never intended to exclude folks who were willing to co-operate with us.”

[ Moscow says West is ‘directly involved’ in Ukraine conflict ]

Calling the discussions with Mr Biden “frank and sincere”, Mr Macron said he was “confident” that progress could be made on the Inflation Reduction Act, although he declined to give specifics.

The two leaders said they had mandated a joint taskforce between the US and European Union to work on “technical discussions” about what remedies would be possible.

“In the coming weeks and months we will clarify all this, but progress should be possible,” Mr Macron said. “We want to succeed together, not against each other.”

Mr Macron and other European leaders have floated the idea of the US granting exceptions to European companies, similar to those granted to countries with trade deals with the US such as Canada and Mexico. But so far it has been difficult to get the US to change its approach because Congress has already passed the law.

“There is a lot we can do,” said Mr Biden.

– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022