The two presidents discussed a number of issues, including the aggravation of the situation in eastern Ukraine.
Biden stressed “the unwavering support of the United States for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” and expressed concern about the buildup of Russia’s military presence near the border with Ukraine and in occupied Crimea. He called on the Russian Federation to reduce tensions.
“President Biden has also made it clear that the United States will firmly defend its national interests in response to Russian actions such as invasion of cyberspace and interference in elections, “added the White House.
In addition, Biden said his goal is to create a predictable and stable relationship with Russia that is in US interests.
“He proposed holding a summit in a third country in the coming months to discuss the full range of issues facing the United States and Russia,” the release said.
- In 2014, immediately after the annexation of Crimea, Russia launched an armed aggression in eastern Ukraine. The fighting is between the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the one hand and the Russian army and Russian-backed militants who control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions on the other. Officially, the Russian Federation does not recognize its invasion of Ukraine, despite the facts and evidence presented by Ukraine.
- July 22, 2020 Trilateral Contact Group agreed the regime a complete and comprehensive ceasefire in the Donbas since midnight on 27 July.
- At the beginning of 2021, the situation in Donbass worsened. The Joint Forces operation headquarters has repeatedly reported that the enemy is firing sniper fire. In February, the first president of Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the trilateral contact group on the settlement of the conflict in Donbass, Leonid Kravchuk, said, what “there is simply no truce “.
- On April 1, the Office of the President of Ukraine reported that from the beginning of 2021 the Russian occupation troops in the Donbas violated the ceasefire more than 570 times… Press Secretary of the President of Ukraine Yulia Mendel said on April 11 that this year already killed 26 Ukrainian servicemen, after that they died two more.
- In late March – early April, the media and eyewitnesses began to publish video evidence that Russia was actively transfers military equipment to Crimea across the Kerch bridge and pulls troops to the border with Ukraine.
- On March 30, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak confirmed that the Russian Federation builds up troops near the border with Ukraine and in the occupied Crimea, which “poses a threat to the military security of the state.” Ukrainian intelligence said that Russia wants to expand military presence on the territory controlled by the “DPR” and “LPR” militants through the introduction of regular units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, and did not rule out an attempt to move Russian troops deep into the territory of Ukraine.
- According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba, the current escalation by the Russian Federation in Donbass is systemic and the most ambitious in recent years.
- Due to the escalation of the situation in Donbass, the US command in Europe announced maximum availability… According to White House and US State Department, the number of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine is the largest since 2014.
- Reuters interlocutors in the Kremlin stated that it was a show of forcerather than preparing for large-scale action. Former commander of the American army in Europe Ben Hodges suggests that pulling in troops can be a “posturing of Russia” and a “test” of the administration new US President Joe Biden.
- Mendel reported on April 12 that on the eastern border with Ukraine, the Russian Federation has placed more than 40 thousand. military personnel, the same number of Russian military personnel are in the occupied Crimea.
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