Monday, January 03, 2022
Warning to the Kremlin
Biden pledges support to Ukraine
Russia has been gathering troops on the Ukrainian border for weeks. In response, Washington and Kiev are closing ranks. US President Biden threatens the Kremlin with a “determined” response if it invades.
In a telephone conversation with the Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyi, US President Joe Biden assured that the US and its allies would react “decisively” to a Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the conversation on Sunday, Biden also affirmed US support for Ukraine’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity”, said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Zelenskyi, for his part, welcomed the United States’ “steadfast support” for his country. The Ukrainian President wrote on Twitter that he had discussed a joint approach by the USA, Ukraine and their partners with Biden to “maintain peace in Europe” and to prevent further escalation.
Most recently, Zelenskyi 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. According to UN estimates, more than 13,000 people have been killed in Donbass since 2014 in fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists.
Summit in Geneva
In the phone call, according to Psaki, Biden underscored his support for diplomatic efforts to defuse the Ukraine conflict. Government representatives from the USA and Russia want to discuss the conflict in Geneva on January 9th and 10th. Russia had repeatedly criticized Ukraine for repeatedly violating the agreements reached through international mediation.
On Thursday, Biden had already spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone. At the same time he threatened a “determined” reaction to a Russian invasion of the neighboring country. Putin, for his part, warned the US president against imposing harsh sanctions on Russia.
A massive deployment of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border over the past week had fueled fears in Ukraine and in the West that a Russian invasion might threaten the neighboring state. Moscow, however, denies any plans to attack, rejects criticism of the troop movements and, for its part, accuses Kiev and NATO of “provocations”.
Intensive diplomatic de-escalation efforts are now underway. Two days after the Geneva talks between the US and Russia, consultations between Russia and NATO are planned. Consultations between Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are to follow on January 13th.