Biden assures support for Selenskies
US President Joe Biden (R.) and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Oleksandroitsch Selenskyj during a conversation in the Oval Office in September
Quelle: DPA/Ivan Vucci
The Ukraine conflict has been coming to a head for weeks. Diplomatic efforts must now contribute to the exemption. US President Biden assured Ukraine that he would take decisive action in the event of a Russian attack.
YouUS President Joe Biden has assured his Ukrainian ally Volodymyr Selenskyj that he will support him in the conflict with Russia. After a phone call between the two presidents on Sunday, the White House in Washington said Biden made it clear that the United States and its allies “will react decisively if Russia continues to invade Ukraine.” So Biden and Selenskij also support diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions with Russia.
In the coming week – January 9 and 10 – talks are planned between the United States and Russia in Geneva. After this, a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council is scheduled – the first in two and a half years. In addition, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will hold talks later.
Selenskij announced in the short message service Twitter that he had discussed “the joint action of partners to maintain peace in Ukraine, the United States and Europe” and steps toward de-escalation with Biden.
Zelensky only said in his New Year’s address that he wanted to bring back not only Crimea’s Black Sea peninsula, which Russia had annexed to Ukraine in 2014. He said parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists should also return.
The US has been accusing Russia of building an army in areas bordering Ukraine for weeks. It is feared that Russian troops may invade the former Soviet republic. Russia denies such plans of invasion and, in turn, accuses Ukraine of deploying additional troops to the region.
According to the White House, Biden stressed that the US remains committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. In the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine, the US government has threatened severe economic sanctions that would be coordinated with those of its allies in Europe. Furthermore, in such a case, NATO’s presence in its eastern member states should be expanded. The US will also provide additional aid to Ukraine, including armed forces.
Biden, who spoke to Putin on the phone on Thursday, also underlined in a conversation with Zelensky that the Minsk peace plan applies to conflict resolution in eastern Ukraine. He also supported the so-called Normandy format, as announced by the White House. Russia has repeatedly criticized Ukraine for repeatedly violating agreements reached through international arbitration.
In the Normandy format of four, France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine are trying to resolve the conflict that has been going on for almost eight years. According to UN estimates, fighting between Ukrainian government troops and Russian-backed separatists in the Donbass has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014.
