During the call, which lasted for about one hour, the two leaders discussed the current situation in Ukraine and related security issues

Washington/Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden held a phone conversation about Russia’s military build-up in Ukraine, but the one-hour call ended without a breakthrough.

During the call, which lasted for about one hour, the two leaders discussed the current situation in Ukraine and related security issues, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the White House’s statement and the Kremlin.

The White House has insisted that Moscow faces “swift and severe costs” if it pushes ahead with aggression, while the Kremlin has denounced the United States’s “peak hysteria” surrounding the Ukraine conflict.

“If Russia undertakes a further invasion of Ukraine, the United States together with our Allies and partners will respond decisively and impose swift and severe costs on Russia,” Biden told Putin, according to a White House press release.

The White House said Biden made it clear to Putin “while the United States remains prepared to engage in diplomacy,” it is “equally prepared for other scenarios”.

Putin on the other hand told Biden Washington has failed to take Russia’s main concerns into account, and it had received no “substantial answer” on critical elements, including NATO’s expansion and the deployment of offensive forces to Ukraine, Sputnik reported, quoting Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.

Russia will soon submit its response to the US and NATO on security guarantees, Ushakov said adding the two leaders however agreed to continue contacts.

Direct engagements between the US and Russia have yielded little substantial progress, with the Kremlin saying the White House failed to address its key security concerns and the Biden administration repeatedly warning Putin’s government of severe economic sanctions if it were to invade Ukraine.

The White House had on Friday warned that Russia could invade Ukraine “at any time”, asking the American citizens to leave the country immediately adding the invasion could start with aerial bombing that would make departures difficult and endanger civilians.