Rising tensions: Joe Biden speaks with Vladimir Putin as US sply plane flies over Ukraine

Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin had a private phone call, as the US Air Force flew a second spy plane over Ukraine while monitoring Russia’s military build-up.

US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have held their latest phone call amid heightened tensions over Ukraine, following almost a year of icy relations.

Biden and Putin spoke over the phone at 7.30am AEDT on Friday, their second conversation this month as fears mount about a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The call lasted 50 minutes, according to a White House administration official, and comes as the US Air Force flew a second spy plane over Ukraine while monitoring Russia’s military build-up.

The discussion – which the Biden Administration said was arranged at Putin’s request – was expected set the tone for US-Russia security talks on January 10, 2022.

Biden will offer his Russian counterpart a diplomatic path forward on the Ukraine crisis, a US official says, while Putin says he is “convinced” that “effective dialogue” between Moscow and Washington is possible.

The call comes after Moscow earlier this month presented Western capitals with sweeping security demands, saying NATO must not admit new members and seeking to bar the United States from opening new bases in ex-Soviet countries.

US President Joe Biden speaks on the phone to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Picture: AFP

It also comes ahead of talks between representatives of the two rivals in Geneva in January, with Washington saying it expects to discuss the Ukraine conflict and Moscow insisting its security demands be contended with.

Biden, who is at his home in Delaware for the New Year’s holiday, was set to stress in his call with Putin that Washington is looking for a “diplomatic path” out of the crisis, a senior administration official told reporters.

“But we are also prepared to respond if Russia advances with a further invasion of Ukraine,” Biden will tell Putin, the official said, adding that Washington remained “gravely concerned” about the military build-up and wanted to see the Russian forces return “to their regular training areas.” In a holiday message to Biden hours before the call, Putin said he is “convinced” that “we can move forward and establish an effective Russian-American dialogue based on mutual respect and consideration of each other’s national interests”.

US President Joe Biden meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 'Villa la Grange' in Geneva on June 16, 2021. Picture: Denis Balibouse.

Shortly after taking office earlier this year, Biden gave a tough speech ditching his predecessor Donald Trump’s muted approach to Moscow and Putin, for whom Trump had voiced admiration.

“I made it clear to President Putin that the days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russia’s aggressive actions, interfering with our elections, cyber attacks and poisoning its citizens are over,” Biden said in February.

In response, the Kremlin slammed what it described as Biden’s “very aggressive and unconstructive rhetoric”.

Tensions continued to escalate when Biden did an interview in March and warned that Putin will “pay a price” for allegedly trying to undermine his candidacy in the US 2020 election.

Asked if he thought Putin was “a killer”, Biden replied, “I do.”

The comments sparked the biggest crisis between Russia and the US in years, with Moscow recalling its ambassador and warning that ties were on the brink of outright “collapse”.

Originally published as Rising tensions: Joe Biden speaks with Vladimir Putin as US sply plane flies over Ukraine