I don't feel comfortable saying "no" to them, because they are more senior than me, and I don't want to hurt any feelings. I have stated my preference as in "I think you can just ping [person] instead of setting up a call" a few times, but they don't seem to get the message.
I suspect some people for whom English is a second/third language find it easier to speak on a video call over typing async messages, so this might be more of a "culture clash" than a problem. Still, I want to get more comfortable saying "no" to meetings in general and am looking for ideas/tactics. Thanks.