FOG BLOG U.S. NEWS LOG: BIDEN WARNS PUTIN IN 'CALL' OF SANCTIONS IF UKRAINE INVADED!

Biden warns Putin of 'consequences' if Russia invades Ukraine...U.S. president made comments in virtual meeting Tuesday; laid out 'alternative path'......U.S. President Joe Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin of "consequences" if he were to invade Ukraine, in a virtual meeting on Tuesday according to U.S. security officials.

"What President Biden did today was lay out very clearly, the consequences if [Putin] chooses to move ahead. He also laid out an alternative path," U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in a briefing following the meeting.

Beyond the agreement to hold further discussions, there was no sign of any narrowing of positions in Moscow's readout of the conversation, which followed weeks of tension over the massing of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine.

A Kremlin statement said Putin repeated Moscow's accusation that Ukraine was behaving provocatively and taking a "destructive line" aimed at dismantling agreements from 2014 and 2015 that were designed to end a war with Russian-backed separatists.

The Kremlin said Putin presented Biden with a demand for legally binding security guarantees that would rule out the expansion of NATO. Putin said NATO was bolstering its military potential near Russia's borders and "making dangerous attempts to conquer Ukrainian territory," the Kremlin said in a statement.