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The Biden administration strenuously denied reports that it has urged Ukraine to cede territory to Russia as the number of troops grows along its eastern border.
“That is absolutely false,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday. Biden spoke by phone with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky after a week of lower-level engagements between the two countries amid concerns that Russian troops along Ukraine’s eastern border are preparing for a ground invasion.
Moscow has massed troops along Ukraine’s eastern border, annexed Crimea, and at least two separatist-held regions, stoking fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing a full invasion of Ukraine.
While Biden and top officials have repeatedly underscored Washington’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, reports said the president intended to press Kyiv to cede parts of its eastern territory, which separatists took control of in 2014.
A “special status” agreement for the areas formed part of a European-brokered ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia in 2015 but never took hold.
Asked Tuesday whether Ukraine should consider compromises, Biden’s top national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that “Ukrainians have come forward with constructive ideas for how to move the diplomacy forward.”
He added, “We’re encouraging that.”
Biden said earlier this week that he would speak with NATO allies about ways to lessen tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
This comes after the president warned Putin during a video call Tuesday that the United States intends to levy “strong measures” in the event of a possible Russian ground invasion, citing new economic sanctions.
But while the U.S. is providing defensive materiel to Kyiv, support from American ground troops is off the table, the president later told reporters.
Psaki reiterated the position Thursday, stating that U.S. ground troops are “not currently part of our discussion or part of our policy calculations.”
(AP)
