In principle, President Joe Biden has accepted a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which could be a last-ditch effort to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The summit between the two world leaders would happen after a meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart, Jen Psaki said. The meeting is later this week.
The agreement requires Moscow to hold off on an invasion.
The President has made it clear that we are committed to pursuing diplomacy until an invasion begins.
As the White House warns that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could come at any time, there is news of a possible one-on-one between Biden and Putin. Moscow has built up its military force on its ex-Soviet neighbor's northern and eastern borders, with recent totals putting Russia's force at about 190,000.
The threat of an assault by Russia has kept global markets on edge for much of the last several weeks.
The broad S&P 500 is down 3.69% in February, while the Nasdaq is down 4.8%. Over the past month, West Texas crude oil futures have gained 4.2%.
The potential for conflict forced Biden to scrap plans to return to Delaware after a two-hour meeting with his national security team.
The National Security Council meeting began at noon and lasted over two hours, according to reporters who watched the attendees arrive and leave the White House compound. The cancellation of the president's holiday-weekend plans carries heightened meaning in recent days because of the administration's belief in a looming assault.
Biden spoke with the president of France, who emerged as a crucial diplomat between the U.S. and Russia. The office of the French president said that he spoke with Biden, Putin, Johnson, and Zelenskyy over the weekend.
Moscow insists that it has no plans to invade Ukraine, and that its forces in Belarus are going to conduct military drills over the next week.
The White House has stressed that there is still room for diplomacy despite warnings that a Russian attack could come at any time. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg appeared to leave room for a peaceful solution when he spoke with CNBC's Hadley Gamble at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
Russia has all the capabilities to launch an attack on Ukraine without warning. The question is, will they launch an attack?
Russia launched missiles on Saturday as part of a planned exercise of the strategic deterrence forces.
CNBC's Christina Wilkie contributed reporting.
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