Washington, 29 December 2021 (dpa/MIA) - In view of the continuing tensions over Ukraine, US President Joe Biden wants to talk on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin this Thursday, the White House National Security Council has announced. The talks would be to prepare consultations at diplomatic level, it said. This probably refers to a meeting planned for January 10 in Geneva on the Ukraine conflict, which has been escalating for weeks, and the NATO security guarantees demanded by Moscow. The Kremlin confirmed the planned telephone call. According to the Interfax agency, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the talks were planned for late in the evening. Neither Washington nor Moscow initially gave an exact time. The White House said that the US government was in close contact with its European allies and partners to coordinate the response to the increasing Russian military presence on the border with Ukraine. Biden has already spoken about this personally with colleagues in Europe, the National Security Council further explained. Previously, there had been criticism from Brussels that the European Union should be involved in the planned talks in Geneva.