Biden conferring with Ukraine’s leader over Russian buildup

By AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden is resuming his telephone diplomacy over the Russian troop buildup near its border with Ukraine, coordinating with Ukraine’s leader on strategy to de-escalate a crisis that Moscow says could rupture ties with Washington. Biden’s planned call Sunday with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy comes as the United States has made little progress in efforts to persuade Russia’s Vladimir Putin to ease tensions. Biden and Putin spoke for nearly an hour on Thursday. Biden later reporters he warned Putin that his economy would pay a “heavy price” if Russia, which has massed some 100,000 troops near the border, made further moves against Ukraine.