Biden assures Zelenskyj of support in the Ukraine conflict

Created: 01/03/2022Updated: 01/03/2022, 4:52 AM

US President Joe Biden (r) and Volodymyr Oleksandrowytsch Selenskyj, President of Ukraine, during a conversation in the Oval Office.

© Evan Vucci / AP / dpa

The Ukraine conflict is coming to a head - diplomatic efforts should now help to ease the situation.

US President Biden pledges Ukraine to take decisive action in the event of a Russian attack.

Washington / Kiev - US President Joe Biden has assured his Ukrainian colleague Volodymyr Selenskyj that he will support him in the conflict with Russia.

Biden made it clear that the United States and its allies "will respond resolutely if Russia continues to invade Ukraine," said the White House in Washington on Sunday after a phone call between the two presidents.

Biden and Selenskyj therefore also support diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions with Russia.

In the coming week - January 9th and 10th - talks between the USA and Russia are planned in Geneva.

Thereafter, 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 afterwards.

Tensions with Russia

Selenskyj announced in the short message service Twitter that he had discussed the “joint actions of Ukraine, the USA and partners for maintaining peace in Europe” and steps towards de-escalation with Biden.

Zelenskyi had only said in his New Year's address that he not only wanted to bring the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, back to Ukraine.

The parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists should also come back, he said.

The US has been accusing Russia of building troops in areas on the border with Ukraine for weeks.

It is feared that Russian troops could invade the ex-Soviet republic.

Russia denies such plans for an invasion and, in turn, accuses Ukraine of having deployed additional soldiers in the region.

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According to the White House, Biden emphasized that the US is committed to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

The US government has threatened tough economic sanctions in the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine, which would be coordinated with its allies in Europe.

In addition, in such a case, NATO's presence in its eastern member states should be expanded.

The US would also provide Ukraine with additional aid, including for the armed forces.

Biden underlines Minsk peace plan

Biden, who spoke to Putin on the phone on Thursday, also underlined in the conversation with Zelenskyj that the Minsk peace plan applies to the solution of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

He also supported the so-called Normandy format, as the White House announced.

Russia had repeatedly criticized Ukraine for repeatedly violating the agreements reached through international mediation.

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, more than 13,000 people have been killed in Donbass since 2014 in fighting between the Ukrainian government troops and the Russian-backed separatists.

dpa