Joe Biden experiences technical difficulties during meeting with Vladimir Putin

US President Joe Biden had an awkward moment during a video call with Russia President Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with US President Joe Biden via a video call. Picture: Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/AFP.

Joe Biden was seen waving at Vladimir Putin and forgot to turn on his mic during the high stakes call as the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine looms.

The two-hour meeting between the two leaders comes after Moscow ramped up its war-games in recent weeks, sparking fears of a destabilising conflict in Eastern Europe, The US Sun reports.

The meeting was the first publicly known call between Biden and Putin since July.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Joe Biden. Picture: Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/AFP.

Russian news agencies released a video of the first few minutes of the call.

Putin took the call from his residence in Sochi, the Russian resort city on the Black Sea.

Putin was seated at a long wooden desk, with Biden on a large video screen in front of him, waving at each other as the call began.

“I welcome you, Mr President!” Putin said at the start of the call, according to a brief video of the opening moments.

Biden experienced some technical difficulties on the call, apparently forgetting to switch his microphone on.

There was a silence on the other end, and then Biden is seen leaning forward, flipping a button and saying, “There you go,” with a smile.

“Hello! Ha, ha ha, ha, ha. Good to see you again,” Biden replied.

“Good afternoon,” a smirking Putin said.

“I uh, unfortunately, last time I — we didn’t get to see each other at the G20. I hope next time we meet we do it in person,” Biden said.

According to the White House, the two began their conversation via video-link at 10.07am, and ended at 12.08pm.

Biden was seen waving at Putin at the start of their ‘tense’ call. Picture: Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/AFP.

‘Deep concerns’

Per CNN, a White House statement on the call said Biden “voiced the deep concerns of the United States and our European Allies about Russia’s escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine and made clear that the US and our Allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation.”

Biden also reportedly “reiterated his support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy,” the White House said.

The two presidents tasked their respective teams with following up on their discussions, with the White House adding that “the US will do so in close co-ordination with allies and partners.”

In addition to the Ukraine issue, the two leaders discussed “the US-Russia dialogue on Strategic Stability, a separate dialogue on ransomware, as well as joint work on regional issues such as Iran,” the White House said.

The meeting was the first chat between the two world leaders since their last publicly known call in July. Picture: Saul Loeb/Pool/AFP.

The White House has not provided a readout of the call but said that Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security Adviser, would discuss the call with reporters at an afternoon press briefing.

Putin was expected to demand guarantees from Biden that the NATO military alliance will never expand to include Ukraine, which has long sought membership.

Moscow has denied that it plans to attack Ukraine.

Ahead of their meeting, Kremlin officials told reporters it expects no breakthrough at virtual talks between Biden and Putin.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow regretted the White House’s predictable tendency to resort to sanctions but said that Putin was ready to hear Biden’s concerns and that the Kremlin leader wanted to set out his own.

“There’s no need to expect any breakthroughs from this conversation. It is a working conversation at a very difficult period,” Peskov said.

“The escalation of tensions in Europe is off the scale, it is extraordinary, and this requires a personal discussion at the highest level,” he added.

The two leaders reportedly waved at each other as their Tuesday morning call began. Picture: Mikhail Metzel\\TASS via Getty Images.

‘Bloody massacre’

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told CNN that there would be a “really bloody massacre” if Russia decides to invade Ukraine and warned that “Russian guys also will come back in the coffins.”

The defence minister also said that five million Ukrainian refugees are fleeing into Europe amid heightened alarm about troop movements on the nations’ border.

Kyiv has accused Russia of deploying tanks and additional sniper teams near the Ukrainian border amid warnings Moscow could invade in weeks.

Satellite images have revealed huge new camps of Russian troops, tanks, and artillery along the border.

“If I can advise President Biden, I would like him to articulate to Mr. Putin that no red lines from the Kremlin side should be here. The red line is here in Ukraine and the civilised world will react without hesitation,” Reznikov told CNN.

“The idea of not provoking Russia will not work,” he added

This article originally appeared in The US Sun and is republished here with permission