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NEW YORK (Dagbladet): US President Joe Biden had his first telephone conversation with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky today. In the conversation, which lasted 50 minutes, he gave all his support to Ukraine in the tense situation with Russia, Reuters reports.
Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014.
“President Biden reaffirmed America’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression in Donetsk and Crimea,” the United States said in a statement.
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Lately, the atmosphere in the area has become increasingly tense.
“Military exercises and possible provocations along the border are a traditional Russian game,” Zelensky said, according to the BBC.
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By the way, this is the same Ukrainian president that former US President Donald Trump tried to lobby to investigate Biden’s son Hunter Biden in 2019.
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At the time, Trump threatened to withhold nearly $ 400 million (about $ 3.4 billion) in military aid to the country and a visit to the White House if the Ukrainian authorities did not launch a corruption investigation into Biden. Instead, it ended Trump’s lawsuit for the first time.
Trump denied doing anything wrong and the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him.
Now the tone is quite different. Biden said on Friday that he wants to visit Ukraine again, as he also did as vice president.
Russia warns
Russia warns NATO against sending forces to help Ukraine.
– Russia will implement more measures if NATO does something like this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the news agency.
There have been sporadic and minor clashes in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists. The deadliest incident occurred recently on March 26. Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed near Shuma in Donetsk, the BBC reports.
US forces in Europe are on high alert due to what is described as an “escalation in Russian aggression.”
NATO believes Russia is undermining attempts to reduce tensions in the area, and NATO ambassadors met Thursday to discuss the situation.
“The allies share concerns about the recent large-scale military activity by Russia in and around Ukraine,” a NATO official told Reuters.
From three directions
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the BBC that there has been a significant increase in Russian forces on the northern and eastern borders between Ukraine and Russia, as well as on the Russian-occupied Crimea. Russian forces also held a military exercise in Crimea in March.
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– So, from three directions we observe a military build-up of Russia. Ukraine does not want an escalation. We don’t need war, says Kuleba.
New videos on Twitter in recent days allegedly show Russian tanks, artillery and armored vehicles on their way to the Ukrainian border.
According to the commander of the Ukrainian army, General Ruslan Khomchak, Russia probably has between 20,000 and 25,000 soldiers along the eastern border and in the Crimean peninsula. Furthermore, he claims that Russia has nearly 3,000 military officers and instructors among the separatists in eastern Ukraine. This has not been confirmed by Russia, the BBC reports.
– Russia is moving its armed forces within its territory as we wish. It shouldn’t worry anyone and poses no threat to anyone, says Peskov.
