周四，乔·拜登总统与俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京进行了交谈，这是他们本月的第二次谈话，当时人们对全面入侵乌克兰的担忧加剧。

拜登政府表示，这一呼吁是应普京的要求发出的，是通过外交手段缓解紧张局势的最新努力。

但是成千上万的俄罗斯军队仍然在乌克兰边境附近，俄罗斯官员的好战言论和国家宣传仍然让西方官员感到紧张。

美国和欧洲盟友威胁称，如果莫斯科袭击乌克兰，将对其实施前所未有的经济处罚。近八年前，俄罗斯军队占领了克里米亚半岛，并在乌克兰东部的顿巴斯省引发了一场战争。

制裁和其他惩罚并没有结束这场冲突，大约14 000人被打死，俄罗斯领导的分裂分子仍在与乌克兰军队作战。美国官员表示，目前还不清楚普京是否决定再次发动全面入侵，但拜登已经明确表示，美军不会在战场上前来援助基辅。

相反，拜登政府希望威慑和外交能够阻止普京。一名高级政府官员表示，他们“无法解释为什么俄罗斯方面要求通话”，但补充说，两位领导人都认为“直接领导人之间的接触有真正的价值。”

这位官员周三对记者表示:“我认为，鉴于俄罗斯的集结，我们正处于危机时刻，已经持续了几周，需要高度参与来解决这一问题，并试图找到一条缓和升级的道路。”。

双方周二证实，除了双方领导人的通话外，美国和俄罗斯外交官将于1月10日会面，讨论双方明确表示的安全关切。

美国国务院发言人内德·普莱斯(Ned Price)在谈到此次会谈时表示:“在我们寻求降低乌克兰内部和周边冲突的可能性时，开放的对话渠道和开放的外交渠道有可能是建设性的。

在这些会议之后，北约将于1月12日与俄罗斯举行会议，而在乌克兰东部部署了战争监视器的关键安全论坛欧洲安全与合作组织将于1月13日举行会议。

拜登的国家安全委员会发言人艾米丽·霍恩(Emily Horne)在一份声明中表示:“拜登政府继续与我们的欧洲盟友和伙伴进行广泛的外交接触，就应对俄罗斯在乌克兰边境军事集结的共同方法进行磋商和协调。

但一些欧洲盟友呼吁加大参与力度。欧盟高级外交官约瑟夫·博雷尔告诉德国《世界报》，欧盟“必须参与这些谈判”。

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“是关于我们的。这不仅仅是两个国家的情况，即美国和俄罗斯，或者北约和俄罗斯——即使莫斯科想象得到，”他在周三发表的采访中补充道。

美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯一再表示，在未与欧洲盟友协商之前，美国不会就任何欧洲安全安排进行谈判——周三，他再次与乌克兰总统沃洛季米尔·泽伦斯基通话，就像两人在拜登和普京本月首次通话之前所说的那样。

佩尔·普莱斯重申了美国对乌克兰的“坚定不移的”支持，并“讨论了和平解决乌克兰东部冲突的努力以及即将与俄罗斯进行的外交接触”，这是对周四电话会议和1月10日会议的认可。

泽伦斯基在推特上说，他得到保证，美国将“全力”支持“反击俄罗斯的侵略”美国官员已经公开指责俄罗斯要求乌克兰被禁止加入北约，称西方联盟在前苏联国家的军事活动威胁到俄罗斯。

但布林肯、普莱斯和其他人表示，俄罗斯公开要求的其他项目并非“不可接受”，可以通过外交途径解决——前提是俄罗斯也通过从乌克兰边境撤军来缓和局势。

相反，尽管俄罗斯官方媒体周一报道称，超过1万人已经撤离，但这位高级政府官员表示，仍有“大量俄罗斯军队驻扎在边境内外。”

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俄罗斯官员的不祥之语还在继续。普京本人周日表示，如果俄罗斯的要求得不到满足，他正在权衡“不同的”军事和技术选择。

根据美国广播公司新闻获得的内部电子邮件，在这种高度威胁下，美国驻基辅大使馆正在做“紧急准备”，以防疏散非紧急人员或外交官家属。

大使馆正在寻求额外的安保人员来临时填补下个月的空缺，因为“永久工作人员继续紧急准备，以防授权或命令离开”——当大使馆允许外交官的家人和非紧急人员因威胁而搬迁时。

美国国务院发言人周三证实，他们“正在进行正常的应急计划，一如既往，以防安全局势严重恶化。”但他们告诉美国广播公司新闻，他们“目前不考虑从乌克兰撤离美国政府人员或美国公民。”

俄罗斯总统助理尤里·乌沙科夫说，在拜登与普京通话期间，拜登保证美国不会在乌克兰部署进攻性打击武器。

“拜登总统已经明确表示，美国不打算在乌克兰部署进攻性打击武器。我们的总统指出，这是我们刚刚提交给美国人的文件中的关键点之一，我们希望就此继续进行实质性谈判，”乌沙科夫在两国总统电话交谈后告诉记者。

据乌沙科夫称，普京表示，俄罗斯将寻求对其安全的保证。

乌沙科夫在接受记者采访时说:“弗拉基米尔·弗拉基米罗维奇·普京详细概述了我们提交的文件中规定的基本原则，并强调这三个轨道上的谈判对我们来说当然很重要，但最主要的是我们需要一个结果，我们将以确保俄罗斯安全得到保障的形式取得结果。“美国总统原则上同意这一观点，并做出了相当合乎逻辑和相当严肃的反应。”

本月早些时候，美国国务院更新了对乌克兰的旅行警告，包括“来自俄罗斯的威胁增加”的警告该建议在该机构的最高级别“第4级:不要旅行”已有数月，因为新冠肺炎·疫情但它现在警告说，“美国公民应该意识到俄罗斯计划对乌克兰采取重大军事行动的报道。”

在拜登与普京通话后，白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)周四发表了一份简短声明，称拜登“敦促俄罗斯缓和与乌克兰的紧张关系”，并“明确表示，如果俄罗斯进一步入侵乌克兰，美国及其盟友和伙伴将做出果断回应。”

“拜登总统还表示支持外交，从明年初开始，将在北约通过北约-俄罗斯理事会和欧洲安全与合作组织举行双边战略稳定对话。拜登总统重申，只有在缓和而不是升级的环境下，这些对话才能取得实质性进展。

同样在周四，一名白宫高级官员宣读了拜登和普京之间的通话，称语气“严肃而实质性”

根据这位官员的说法，拜登概述了两条前进的道路——这都取决于俄罗斯选择如何前进。

“拜登总统提出了两条道路。美国做法的两个方面将真正取决于俄罗斯在未来一段时间的行动。一条是外交途径，导致局势降级，另一条是更侧重于威慑的途径，包括如果俄罗斯选择进一步入侵乌克兰的严重成本和后果，”这位官员说。

“这些成本包括经济成本，包括调整和增强北约在盟国的兵力态势，并包括向乌克兰提供额外援助，使其能够在其领土上进一步自卫。正如我们之前所阐述的那样，”这位官员补充道。

当被问及普京是否进一步澄清了他是否已经决定是否进一步入侵乌克兰时，这位官员表示，对话中“当然没有宣布意图”，但美国将继续监测局势，为普京的任何决定做好准备。

Biden, Putin hold call amid heightened tensions over Ukraine

President Joe Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday -- their second conversation this month amid heightened fears of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The call, which the Biden administration said comes at Putin's request, was the latest effort to defuse those tensions diplomatically.

But tens of thousands of Russian troops remain near Ukraine's borders, and bellicose rhetoric from Russian officials and state propaganda have Western officials on edge still.

The U.S. and European allies have threatened unprecedented economic penalties for Moscow if it attacks Ukraine, nearly eight years after its forces seized the Crimean Peninsula and sparked a war in Ukraine's eastern provinces known as Donbas.

Sanctions and other penalties have not brought that conflict to an end, with approximately 14,000 people killed and Russian-led separatists still fighting Ukrainian forces. U.S. officials say it's unclear if Putin has decided to attack again in an all-out invasion, but Biden has already made clear U.S. forces will not come to Kyiv's aid on the battlefield.

Instead, the Biden administration is hoping deterrence and diplomacy will stop Putin. A senior administration official said they "cannot speak to why the Russian side has requested the call," but added both leaders believe there is "genuine value in direct leader to leader engagement."

"I think we are at a moment of crisis and have been for some weeks now given the Russian build-up and that it will take a high level of engagement to address this and to try to find a path of de-escalation," the official told reporters Wednesday.

In addition to the leaders' call, U.S. and Russian diplomats will meet on Jan. 10, the two sides confirmed Tuesday, to discuss stated security concerns on either side.

"Open lines of dialogue, open lines of diplomacy have the potential to be constructive as we seek to de-escalate the potential for conflict in and around Ukraine," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said of the talks.

After those meetings, NATO will hold a meeting with Russia on Jan. 12, while the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a key security forum that has deployed a war monitor in eastern Ukraine, will hold a session Jan. 13.

"The Biden administration continues to engage in extensive diplomacy with our European allies and partners, consulting and coordinating on a common approach in response to Russia's military build-up on the border with Ukraine," Emily Horne, Biden's National Security Council spokesperson, said in a statement.

But some European allies have called for greater involvement. The European Union "must be involved in these negotiations," its top diplomat, Josep Borrell, told the German newspaper Die Welt.

"It's about us. This is not simply the case for two states, i.e. America and Russia, or NATO and Russia -- even if Moscow imagines it," he added in the interview, published Wednesday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said repeatedly the U.S. will not negotiate any arrangement about European security without first consulting European allies -- speaking again to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Wednesday, just as the two spoke before Biden and Putin's first call this month.

He reiterated "unwavering" U.S. support for Ukraine, per Price, and "discussed efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine and upcoming diplomatic engagements with Russia" -- a nod to both Thursday's call and the Jan. 10 meetings.

Zelenskiy tweeted that he was assured of "full" U.S. support "in countering Russian aggression." U.S. officials have already publicly rebuked Russia's demand heading into talks -- that Ukraine be barred from NATO membership, saying the Western alliance's military activity in former Soviet states threatens Russia.

But other items on Russia's public demands are not "unacceptable" and could be addressed through diplomacy, Blinken, Price and others have said -- provided that Russia de-escalate as well by pulling back its forces from Ukraine's borders.

Instead, while Russian state media reported Monday that more than 10,000 were withdrawn, the senior administration official said there's still a "significant Russian troop presence in and around the border."

Pool/Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with President Joe Biden in the Oval Offic...

The ominous language from Russian officials has also continued. Putin himself said Sunday that he is weighing "diverse" military and technical options if Russia's demands aren't addressed.

Amid that heightened threat, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv is making "emergency preparations" in case it evacuates non-emergency personnel or diplomats' families, according to internal emails obtained by ABC News.

The embassy is seeking additional security staff to temporarily fill in next month, as the "permanent staff continue Emergency Preparations in case of Authorized or Ordered Departure" -- when an embassy allows diplomats' families and non-emergency personnel to relocate because of a threat.

A State Department spokesperson confirmed Wednesday they are "conducting normal contingency planning, as we always do, in the event the security situation severely deteriorates." But they told ABC News they are not "currently considering evacuations of U.S. government personnel or American citizens from Ukraine."

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said that during Biden's call with Putin, Biden assured that the U.S. is not going to deploy offensive strike weapons in Ukraine.

"President Biden has clearly stated that the United States does not intend to deploy offensive strike weapons in Ukraine. Our president noted that this is one of the key points that are just included in our documents that we have handed over to the Americans and on which we want to continue substantive negotiations," Ushakov told reporters after a telephone conversation between the presidents.

According to Ushakov, Putin said Russia will seek guarantees of its security.

"Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin outlined in detail the basic principles that were laid down in the documents we submitted, and stressed that negotiations on these three tracks are important for us, of course, but the main thing is that we need a result, and we will achieve a result in the form of ensuring guaranteed security of Russia," Ushakov told reporters. "The US President, in principle, agreed with this point of view and reacted quite logically and quite seriously."

Earlier this month, the State Department updated its travel advisory for Ukraine to include a warning about "increased threats from Russia." The advisory had been at the agency's highest level, "Level 4: Do Not Travel," for months because of theCOVID-19 pandemic, but it now warns, "U.S. citizens should be aware of reports that Russia is planning for significant military action against Ukraine."

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued a short statement Thursday following Biden's call with Putin, saying Biden "urged Russia to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine," and "made clear that the United States and its allies and partners will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine."

"President Biden also expressed support for diplomacy, starting early next year with the bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue, at NATO through the NATO-Russia Council, and at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. President Biden reiterated that substantive progress in these dialogues can occur only in an environment of de-escalation rather than escalation," Psaki said.

Also on Thursday, a senior White House official gave a readout of the call between Biden and Putin, saying the tone was "serious and substantive."

According to the official, Biden outlined two paths forward -- all depending on how Russia chooses to proceed.

"President Biden laid out two paths. Two aspects of the US approach that will really depend on Russia's actions in the period ahead. One is a path of diplomacy, leading toward a de-escalation of the situation, and the other is a path that's more focused on deterrence, including serious costs and consequences should Russia choose to proceed with a further invasion of Ukraine," the official said.

"Those costs include economic costs include adjustments and augmentations of NATO force posture in allied countries and include additional assistance to Ukraine to enable it to further defend itself in its territory. as we've laid out previously," the official added.

When asked if Putin had offered any further clarity on if he had made a decision on whether or not to further invade Ukraine, the official said there were "certainly no declarations to intention" in the conversation, but the U.S. will continue to monitor the situation to be ready for whatever Putin decides.