Biden faces off with Putin: President threatens Russia with the toughest ...

President Joe Biden is facing off with Vladimir Putin in a tense video call from the White House Situation Room on Tuesday morning, where he will warn his Russian counterpart there will be severe economic consequences if Moscow invades the Ukraine.  

The call began at around 10 am ET, according to Russian news agencies.

Tuesday's call is one of the biggest test of Biden's diplomatic skills to date as he tries to head off a Russian attack that could lead to additional US troops being deployed to Eastern Europe to support NATO allies against an aggressive threat from the Kremlin. 

Putin, meanwhile, has complained that Ukraine poses a threat to Russia because of its relationship with the US and Western Europe. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that Moscow regretted what he called the White House's predictable tendency to resort to sanctions, but said that Putin was ready to hear out Biden's concerns and that the Kremlin leader wanted to set out his own.

'We're looking for good, predictable relations with the United States. Russia has never intended to attack anyone, but we have our concerns and we have our red lines,' he said.  

Meanwhile, Ukraine has warned of a 'bloody massacre' and five million Ukrainian refugees fleeing into Europe if Russia decides to invade Kiev. 

Satellite images show increasing numbers of Russian troops massing on the border of Ukraine – as many as 175,000 according to US analysts. 

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told CNN there would be a 'really bloody massacre' if Russia invaded Ukraine and warned that 'Russian guys also will come back in coffins'.   

A White House spokesman said Monday evening that Biden had spoken to the leaders of France, the UK, Germany and Italy, and they discussed 'their shared concern about the Russian military build-up on Ukraine's borders and Russia's increasingly harsh rhetoric.'  

The White House said: 'The leaders underscored their support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.' 

Biden is expected to reconnect with European leaders on Tuesday following his call with Putin.

The president is also expected to call Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky after he speaks to the Russian leader.

During the consversation, Biden will threaten Putin with 'substantial economic' sanctions should he invade Ukraine. They're likely to be similar to the economic sanctions imposed on Iran over its attempts to develop a nuclear weapon. 

The moves under consideration will 'impose significant and severe harm on the Russian economy' - options include cutting Russia off from global financial systems, in the same way that Iran was isolated for failing to comply with the nuclear deal. 

That could include targeting Russia's biggest banks and Moscow's ability to convert roubles into dollars and other currencies, a source told Reuters. 

Biden will also warn of 'additional forces and capabilities' being deployed to the region, if Putin does invade. 

Putin has made preparations to invade Ukraine but it's unclear he's made the final decision to do so, a senior administration official said on Monday.

The official noted the US was ready to show a 'combination of support for the Ukrainian military, strong economic countermeasures, and the substantial increase in support and capability to our NATO allies' if Moscow moved forward with an attack.

The official briefed reporters on the situation in the Ukraine ahead of Biden's call with Putin on Tuesday.

Taking a tough tone ahead of the conversation between the two leaders, the official noted that the U.S. and Europeans are prepared to place 'substantial economic' sanctions on Russia should Putin invade the Ukraine - a message President Biden will send during the virtual talk with his Russian counterpart.

While the official wouldn't commit to the United States putting boots on the ground in the Ukraine to help President Volodymyr Zelensky, the person did say that in the event of an invasion, the US would offer reassurance to NATO allies with additional forces. 

'To be clear, we do not know whether President Putin has made a decision about further military escalation in Ukraine. But we do know that he is putting in place the capacity to engage in such escalation should he decide to do so. We've seen this Russian playbook before in 2014 when Russia last invaded Ukraine,' the senior administration official said.

'We have seen the movement of additional capabilities and forces to the vicinity of Ukraine in multiple different areas. And these movements are consistent with the planning that we see underway for a military escalation in Ukraine,' the official added. 

The official added that Russia could still choose a 'different course' and the Biden administration is encouraging Moscow to 'return to dialogue through diplomatic avenues. 

The [administration has been lining up its European allies for backup. 

On Monday night, the White House said: 'Today, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy, Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, and President Biden of the United States held a call. 

'The leaders discussed their shared concern about the Russian military build-up on Ukraine's borders and Russia's increasingly harsh rhetoric. 

'They called on Russia to de-escalate tensions and agreed that diplomacy, especially through the Normandy Format, is the only way forward to resolve the conflict in Donbas through the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. 

'The leaders underscored their support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. 

'They agreed that their teams will stay in close touch, including in consultation with NATO allies and EU partners, on a coordinated and comprehensive approach.' 

The situation in the Ukraine is expected to be the dominate topic of Biden and Putin's conversation, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday. 

'It's also an opportunity to discuss a range of topics in the US and Russia relationship including strategic stability, cyber and regional issues, but you can certainly expect that the our concerns about the military activities on the border will be a prominent part of the discussion,' she said at her press briefing of the Tuesday call. 

'I think our objective from the beginning of the president's time in office has not been to escalate the relationship but has been to move to a more stable footing in the relationship,' she noted. 

But, she added, 'the president is not going to hold back on conveying his concern.'

She also indicated there would be a US military response if Russia invaded, pointing back to the 2014 Russian invasion of the Crimea.

'If you look back at 2014, that one of the outcomes here, if they were to decide to move forward is that the other countries in the eastern flank, in many of them NATO partners, will be looking for reassurance from the United States. That's something that was a follow up to 2014. I'm not sure that is what Russia wants to see. But that would be a natural consequence if they were to move forward as well,' she said.

Psaki pushed back on questions whether Biden's diplomatic talk with Putin could be effective in staving off an invasion - an approach that didn't work in 2014 when Russia took the Crimea.

'We will see if they are but our objective first and foremost is to prevent the move forward the military progression that we saw happen in 2014,' she said.

'It's not about threats,' she said of the upcoming call. 'It's about conveying the right path forward here is through diplomacy.'

U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russia has massed about 70,000 troops near its border with Ukraine and the action has resulted in comparisons being made to Moscow's 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

Ahead of Biden and Putin's conversation, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke with Zelensky. 

Zelensky said he and Blinken agreed to continue 'joint and concerted action.'

'Agreed to continue joint & concerted action. Grateful to U.S. strategic partners & allies for the continued support of our sovereignty & territorial integrity. Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,' Zelensky wrote on twitter. 

The U.S. will also back its NATO allies in the region, the official said. 

Zelensky has pushed to get the Ukraine made a member of the alliance, but that has not happened yet.

The State Department also made it clear the US would counter any Russian aggression to the Ukraine.

'If Russia chooses to move forward with any plans it may have developed to continue its military aggression or to aggress militarily upon Ukraine to violate Ukraine's sovereignty, its independence, its territorial integrity we and our allies would be prepared to act we would be prepared to act resolutely,' said spokesman Ned Price.

'There should be no ambiguity about our willingness to do this. And we have made that very clear in public and in private at every turn,' he added. 

The senior administration official hinted at a U.S. deployment to Eastern Europe if Russia invades, saying there would be 'a positive response from the United States for additional forces and capabilities and exercises to take place to ensure the safety and security of our of our eastern flank allies in the face of that kind of aggression in Ukraine.'

'I think you could anticipate that in the event of an invasion, the

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