Ukraine tension: Biden warns Putin of 'swift and severe costs'

US President Joe Biden has reiterated to Russian leader Vladimir Putin during a phone call that there will be ‘swift and severe costs’ if Russia invaded Ukraine. It comes after an hour of talks between the leaders aimed at defusing the situation at the Ukrainian border. Australia is the latest country to advise its citizens to leave Ukraine amid warnings that an invasion could be imminent.

Also in the programme: Campaigning has begun for the Hungarian elections which will take place in early April. And we hear about the newest adaptation of one of Agatha Christie’s most celebrated works, Death on the Nile.

Julian Worricker has two guests to discuss these and the other stories of the day. Martina Stevis-Gridneff is the Brussels bureau chief for The New York Times and Tom McTague is a London-based staff writer at The Atlantic, and co-author of Betting The House: The Inside Story of the 2017 Election.

(Photo: President Joe Biden speaks on the phone with Russia"s President Vladimir Putin. Credit: The White House/Handout via Reuters)