(Washington) US President Joe Biden will call his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, a few days after meeting with Vladimir Putin, accused of massing troops on the Russian-Ukrainian border with a view to a possible invasion.
During this conversation, Joe Biden will reaffirm “American support for the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” according to a White House official.
He will also discuss “the Russian military deployment on the borders of Ukraine and will review the preparations for the next diplomatic meetings intended to lower the tension in the region”, added this source.
Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday he was impatient to discuss with Mr. Biden “ways to coordinate (their) actions in the interest of peace in Ukraine and security in Europe”.
PHOTO JOHANNA GERON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Kiev and its Western allies accuse Moscow of having massed tens of thousands of soldiers on the country’s borders in anticipation of a possible attack.
For its part, Russia claims that its security depends on the prohibition of any NATO enlargement, perceived as an existential threat, and the end of Western military activities that it claims to observe near the Russian borders.
Joe Biden, who multiplies the warnings to Vladimir Putin and pleads for a “de-escalation”, assured to have again warned the Russian president against an attempted invasion of Ukraine during a telephone interview Thursday.
“I made it clear to President Putin that we would adopt tough sanctions and increase our presence in Europe, among our NATO allies,” Joe Biden said on Friday.
“We have been clear: he cannot, I repeat, he cannot invade Ukraine,” he told reporters in his stronghold of Wilmington, Delaware, where he spends the end of the season. year.
The Kremlin had indicated that further sanctions against Moscow would be a “colossal mistake”.
At the end of the call – the second between the two leaders in less than a month – Moscow had argued that Joe Biden had pledged not to deploy “offensive weapons” in Ukraine.
Affirmation immediately minimized by the White House, which had assured that it was only a confirmation of the current policy and not “of a new commitment”.
On January 9 and 10, Russia and the United States will hold talks on Ukraine in Geneva. Led by US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and her Russian counterpart Sergei Riabkov, they will be followed on January 12 by a Russia-NATO meeting, then on January 13 by a meeting within the framework of the OSCE.
Russia has already annexed part of Ukrainian territory, Crimea, in 2014, and claims to have to protect itself against the hostility of Westerners who support Kiev, especially in its conflict with pro-Russian separatists.