US President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky will speak by phone Sunday amid growing fears that a Russian military rally near the border with its pro-Western neighbor heralds an invasion.
The show of US support for Ukraine comes days after Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin of the dire consequences if Moscow invades the former Soviet country.
Using some of his most direct languages yet, Biden said Friday: “I am not going to negotiate here in public, but we make it clear that you cannot, I will emphasize that you cannot, invade Ukraine.”
The US leader added, in remarks to reporters during a vacation stay in Delaware, that he had “made it clear to President Putin that we will have severe sanctions, we will increase our presence in Europe, with NATO allies” if Russia invades Ukraine.
The White House said that in Sunday’s call with Zelensky, Biden “will reaffirm US support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, discuss Russia’s military strengthening on Ukraine’s borders, and review preparations for upcoming diplomatic engagements. to help reduce the situation in the country. region.”
Zelensky tweeted: “We look forward to speaking with @POTUS again this Sunday to coordinate our steps for the sake of peace in Ukraine and security in Europe.”
– ‘Engage in a meaningful way’ – Washington and its European allies accuse Russia of threatening Ukraine with a new invasion.
Some 100,000 Russian soldiers are concentrated near the country’s border, where Putin already seized the Crimea region in 2014 and is accused of fomenting a pro-Russian separatist war that broke out that same year in the east.
Moscow describes the presence of troops as protection against NATO expansion, although Ukraine has not been offered membership in the military alliance.
Senior US and Russian officials will meet on January 9 and 10 in Geneva to discuss the crisis.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Friday; Later, Blinken urged Russia to “participate in a meaningful way” in the upcoming talks on the tense confrontation between Moscow and Kiev.
Stoltenberg said NATO was “united” and “ready for dialogue.”
In Thursday’s call, Biden warned Putin against invading Ukraine, while the Kremlin leader said sanctions against Moscow would be a “colossal mistake.”
After a 50-minute phone call, the second in just over three weeks, both presidents indicated their support for more diplomacy.
Putin was generally “satisfied” with the talks, foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov told reporters.
A senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the tone “was serious and substantive.”
But the depth of the disagreement, or the dangerously high dangers on the margins of Eastern Europe, could not be hidden.