Biden agrees to Ukraine summit with Putin

The U.S. and Russia have tentatively agreed to a meeting over Ukraine, offering a possible path out of one of the most dangerous European crises in decades.

The office of French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement on Monday he had pitched a summit over "security and strategic stability in Europe" to his American and Russian counterparts, Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.

The White House responded in a statement that Biden would accept the meeting “in principle,” but only if an invasion doesn’t happen.

In that statement, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, "We are always ready for diplomacy. We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war."

Neither the Kremlin nor the Ukrainian President responded to requests for comment.

Macron’s proposal comes after a week of high tension sparked by Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s borders.

U.S.-based satellite imagery shows multiple deployments of Russian units in forests, farms and industrial areas less than 10 miles from the border.

Western countries say it’s a prelude to an imminent invasion, which Moscow denies.

Details about the proposed summit are unclear, but Macron and the White House said it would be worked out by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, during their meeting at the end of this month.

It’s also uncertain what role Ukraine would play in the summit, if any.