Biden promises Ukraine ‘strong action’ in Russia’s invasion

“We appreciate Ukraine’s continued support,” President Zelensky said on Twitter. We discussed the joint actions of Ukraine, the United States and their allies to maintain peace in Europe and prevent an escalation of the situation.

The White House statement said the US president “expressed support for confidence-building measures to de-escalate tensions in the Donbass and for active diplomacy to accelerate implementation of the Minsk Accords.”

In the Minsk Accords, brokered by France and Germany, Ukraine pledged to implement political reforms and Russia pledged to end its support for pro-Russian separatist rebels.

President Biden also emphasized that the United States would not negotiate without the involvement of its allies. “Nothing is about you without you,” the statement said.

On Sunday, Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Russia was “very likely” to invade Ukraine, and would only be deterred by “severe sanctions.” According to him, the invasion could be counterproductive for Russia: more countries will be forced to join the arms of NATO.

Consultation

Thursday night, Biden was already phone conversation 50 minutes with Russian President Vladimir Putin to exchange views on the situation on the border with Ukraine. Political heavyweights warned each other that an escalation of the conflict would be fatal. Putin then said he was satisfied with the conversation. The head of the Russian state stressed that collective sanctions against his country would be a “fatal mistake.” “The discussion was frank and concrete,” a Kremlin spokesman said.

The United States and Russia will hold bilateral talks in the Swiss city of Geneva on January 9-10. This is a meeting in the context of the Strategic Security Dialogue agreed upon by President Biden and President Putin at their summit last June, which is mainly aimed at controlling their nuclear weapons. But the situation in Ukraine will also be discussed. This will be followed by the NATO-Russia Council on January 12 and a meeting within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on January 13.

Russia has deployed tens of thousands of troops to the border with Ukraine, a NATO partner country. The West fears a possible military intervention by Moscow against Kiev.