RT reported that US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a phone call that lasted less than an hour on February 13. Mr. Biden promised that the US will respond "quickly and decisively" to any potential military action by Russia.
According to the White House's announcement about the phone call, " freshly affirming President Biden's commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," and "clearly saying that the US will respond quickly and decisively, together with its allies and partners, to any aggressive actions by Russia towards Ukraine".
The phone call signals that the US will not change its stance, which is that in the event of military action by Russia, economic sanctions, not military intervention, will be the weapon Washington chooses.
While the White House said that Mr. Biden and Mr. Zelensky agreed on the importance of continuing to pursue diplomacy, neither the US president nor any of his top officials showed any signs of being willing to make a trade-off with Russia on the prospect of admitting Ukraine to NATO.
Mr. Biden and Zelensky had their last phone call at the end of January. While Mr Zelensky thanked Mr Biden at the time for US arms shipments, he also said that Washington should be "more cautious in its message about a potential Russian attack".
Since that phone call, President Zelensky has asked US officials to provide evidence for their claims that Russia is planning an impending invasion of Ukraine. Although Washington's official guidelines are that Russia could launch a "major military action" against Ukraine "any day," President Zelensky asserted that "everything is under control" and there are no signs of an imminent conflict.
Also in a phone call on February 13, Mr. Zelensky suggested that Mr. Biden visit Ukraine "in the coming days", saying that the US leader's visit to Kiev would help "reduced the escalation" of the situation. The invitation comes as several countries, including the US, have dispatched most of their diplomatic staff out of the capital Kiev over concerns about a Russian conflict.
I believe your visit to Kiev in the coming days - which is important to stabilize the situation - will be a strong signal and contribute to reducing escalation, Zelensky told Mr. Biden.
While the US, UK, Israel, Australia and other countries have called on citizens to leave Ukraine by all available means, Mr. Zelensky stressed that Kiev, like other major cities in Ukraine, is "safe and reliably protected".
However, the trip to Kiev does not seem to be on Mr. Biden's schedule, CNN reported. A senior Ukrainian official told CNN that Mr. Biden has not responded positively to the invitation during the phone call.
