After warning Russia not to invade Ukraine, US President Joe Biden is set to meet with Ukraine’s president this week.
America Stands with Ukraine
As per a White House official, Biden would reaffirm US backing for Ukraine’s sovereignty and national stability and address Russia’s military expansion on Ukraine’s frontiers.
Biden will also review strategies for planned diplomatic engagements to de-escalate the situation in the region.
In a message, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said he was looking forward to speaking with Biden to coordinate steps for the sake of peace in Ukraine and security in Europe.
Last month, Biden spoke with Zelensky, promising no judgments or talks would be made “regarding Ukraine, without Ukraine.” This week, Biden spent nearly an hour with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Here is the Kremlin's readout of Biden's conversation with Putin: pic.twitter.com/tCyHHSnBXV
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) December 30, 2021
Biden sought to de-escalate tensions between Russia and Ukraine, which was once part of the Soviet Union, according to the White House.
“I told President Putin if he makes any more moves in Ukraine, he would face serious penalties,” Biden said.
“We will strengthen our position in Europe, alongside our NATO friends, and it will have to come at a high cost,” Biden said on Friday in Wilmington, Delaware.
“We discussed some of his concerns about NATO, the US, and Europe, as well as our own. We said we’d start negotiating on some of those points. I made it plain they could only work if he defused the issue, not inflamed it,” Biden stated.
Over the last week, Russia deployed troops along its borders with Ukraine, with estimates of over 90,000 troops along the border and in Russian-annexed Crimea.
Russia Tries to Dictate Ukranian Policy
Russia also stated Ukraine should not join NATO, a grouping of predominantly European nations.
The US and its partners, on the other hand, declined to provide any guarantees to Russia, citing NATO’s concept that membership is available to any country which meets certain criteria.
Joe Biden’s year in review pic.twitter.com/UyLyJwRd8W
— The Right To Bear Memes (@grandoldmemes) December 28, 2021
When Russia attacked Crimea, Biden was the vice president. The Obama administration did not pursue direct action in response to the move, but it did impose penalties on Russian leaders.
Later this month, US diplomats will meet in person with Russian colleagues in Geneva to discuss stumbling blocks in current negotiations. On Friday, Yuri Ushakov, a Putin advisor, told reporters the meetings “would be personally supervised by the two presidents.”
“If tensions along Ukraine’s borders continue to rise, Biden stated Western nations will implement broad-based sanctions in the economic, financial, and military domains,” Ushakov added.
“However, if the West decides to implement the extraordinary sanctions suggested in this or other situations, it might lead to a complete collapse in ties between our nations and create the most serious damage to relations between Russia and the West,” our president said.
