we know both leaders come into this with significant acts. how you do expect today s virtual meeting to play out? what kind of results might we see if any? reporter: jonathan, that s right. being described by some as the most port call biden has had to make since he took office. clearly it s going to be extremely challenging because of the balance you described in your opening, the consequences of any invasion of ukraine and at the same time trying to offer some kind of diplomatic roadmap that gives russia the perspective there is an alt active. that is incredibly challenging because of this impasse over nato. quite simply, the western u.s. is saying ukraine should be able
to enter into nato at some time in the future. president putin is completely opposed to that. i think the call between the five leaders, president biden, the leaders of france, germany, italy, and the uk overnight was ready quite extraordinary. we know it goes to biden s strategy of bringing allies in. i think that will bring an attempt to debunk any notion president putin might have with germany transitioning from one leader to another which is slightly imblachblsed, france coming to an election might be unbalanced. it s going to be a challenged conversation, as i say. afterward, i think what you ll hear is the americans describe how tough they ve been and set up the alt actives that they offer to president putin. i think it will be interesting to see what the russians say, whether they they think got anything from the call. but in the end with russia, what will show that they they will show how they feel about that
biden is ready to warn putin of severe consequences includes sanctions against the president s inner circle if his army innovates ukraine. president biden is going to make it clear that a diplomatic de-escalation is the only way forward per white house aides. biden also spoke with european allies ahead of the call to discuss potential sanctions if russia doesn t comply. putin, meanwhile, is expected to demand a guarantee that nato will never kb band into ukraine. the high-stakes call comes as u.s. officials say russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops at the ukraine border and is preparing for an invasion perhaps as soon as early next year. joining us now, nbc news international correspondent keir simmons who is with us from london. keir, good morning. so great to see you. obviously this is a high-stakes call for both sides. this is the highest we ve ever seen.
pandemics and climate change, with threatens us as well as everybody, but there s little machinery to deal with. third and most parallel is the united states is most divided and looking inward. that was the case before world war ii. to me the biggest question moving forward is what desire, not so much ability, but collective will does the united states have in continuing to play a role. what will be our commitments and authority? that will be up for grabs. richard, as you know, i only ask big and important questions. let s turn to one of the challenges you just mentioned, which is our relationship with russia. president biden is holding a personal summit with his counterpart today, vladimir putin. what do you anticipate will happen today? what will each sight s asks be? any sense of a resolution or