Biden reaffirms ‘unwavering’ commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty

US President Joe Biden (R) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (File photo)

US President Joe Biden has reaffirmed the United States’ "unwavering" commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday.

"President Biden voiced the deep concerns of the United States and our European allies about Russia's aggressive actions towards Ukraine and made clear that the US and our allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of a further military intervention," reads a statement by the White House.

"He reaffirmed the United States' unwavering commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the White House added.

The talks come only two days after Biden's virtual meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid increasing tensions between Washington and Moscow over Ukraine and the Black Sea region.

The United States, its NATO allies and Ukraine have over the past weeks accused Moscow of enlarging the number of troops near Ukraine's border for a possible invasion. Russia has dismissed the allegation, but it has warned against any provocation from Ukraine.

Moscow says Washington is involved in aggressive moves in the Black Sea, where Ukraine and the United States have held military drills recently.

In a two-hour virtual summit on Tuesday, Putin and Biden discussed the crisis, with the latter saying he plans to organize a meeting between Russia and NATO countries to discuss Moscow's concerns and ways of "bringing down the temperature on the eastern front.”

Biden, however, issued a stern warning, saying Washington would impose "strong economic and other measures" on Russia if it invaded Ukraine.

"I made it very clear, if in fact, he invades Ukraine there will be severe consequences, economic consequences, like none he has ever seen," Biden told reporters on Wednesday before departing from the White House for the state of Missouri.

When asked if he would send troops, Biden said "That’s not on the table."


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