A grim-faced President Biden spoke with an equally solemn Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for more than an hour Thursday as the White House denied the president was urging the Kiev government to make concessions to Russia in order to head off a possible invasion. 

The 76-minute phone call between Biden and Zelensky was followed by a 40-minute call from Biden to the leaders of nine NATO member countries in Eastern Europe.

A senior Biden administration official told reporters, “I know there’s been lots of churn in the press about whether or not there were concessions [to Russia discussed on the calls]. There very clearly were not.”

Russia has massed thousands of troops near Ukraine’s borders as part of what US officials fear could be a prelude to an invasion as soon as early next year.

Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for two hours Tuesday and threatened economic consequences if Russia attacks its western neighbor. 

Putin and Biden spoke using video conference technology. The US official confirmed that Biden engaged with Zelensky and Eastern European NATO members using audio-only calls.

The official said Biden waited two days to call Zelensky because “the president obviously has a lot of other things on his agenda, including domestic issues, domestic travel and and the rest.”

Biden told reporters Wednesday that US troops won’t be sent to Ukraine to deter Russian adventurism, but that he hopes to announce new high-level talks to resolve the crisis.

“We hope by Friday we’re going to be able to say and announce to you that we’re having meetings at a higher level, not just with us but with at least four of our major NATO allies and Russia to discuss the future of Russia’s concerns relative to NATO writ large and whether or not we could work out any accommodations as it relates to bringing down the temperature,” he said.

Biden’s remark alarmed the leaders of Eastern European countries anxious about potential concessions to the Kremlin by NATO. 

“Russia should under no circumstances be given a say in who may or may not be a member of NATO,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said Thursday, Bloomberg News reported. 

Kallas added that Moscow’s “most worrying wish is to divide Europe into spheres of influence. We remember these kinds of moments from our own history and we are in no way naive on this issue.”

The Associated Press reported Thursday that Biden administration officials said the US would press Ukraine to cede autonomy to regions of eastern Ukraine controlled since 2014 by pro-Russia separatists. A vague “special status” for those areas was laid out in a European-brokered peace plan in 2015.

Republicans condemned reports of the move by the White House, with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) accusing the administration of “appeasement” of Russia.

“Joe Biden and Biden-Harris officials are pushing Ukraine to give up territory to Putin in exchange for promises that he won’t invade even further, for now,” Cruz tweeted. “It’s the literal definition of appeasement. Utterly disgraceful.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday denied that Biden would press Ukraine to cede territory when a reporter asked if that possibility was under consideration.

“No, that is absolutely false,” said Psaki, though the question of granting the breakaway regions greater autonomy was not raised.

Biden was vice president during the 2014 Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea and the start of the ongoing civil war waged by the eastern Ukraine rebels.

Republicans have blasted Biden for allowing Russia to complete construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which is nearly operational. The White House waived sanctions against the project in May, with Biden citing the fact that the pipeline was “almost completely finished.”

Nord Stream 2 will allow Russia to send natural gas directly to Germany, bypassing Ukraine and depriving the Kiev government of lucrative gas transfer fees. Critics say it will enhance Moscow’s leverage over Ukraine.