US President Joe Biden said they support Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
President Joe Biden spoke to members of the press in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he went to spend the Thanksgiving holiday.
He stated that he could meet with President of Ukraine Zelensky and President of Russia Putin. A US State Department official said that all options are on the table regarding Russia’s military buildup on the Ukraine border.
Karen Donfried, Deputy Minister of European and Eurasian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made statements to the journalists on the subject at the briefing held by telephone.
“All options are on the table,” the State Department official said. “The alliance will decide the next steps NATO wants to take,” he said.
Russia is the most important agenda item of the NATO meeting
The US official’s statement preceded Foreign Minister Antony Blinken’s visits to Latvia and Sweden next week to attend NATO, as well as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meetings.
The US official stated that Russia’s “extensive and unusual buildup” on the Ukrainian border will be the most important item on the agenda during Blinken’s visits.
Karen Donfried, Deputy Minister of European and Eurasian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: “Next week we will talk about our assessment of what happened on Russia’s border with Ukraine. “We will discuss the options that are on the table and what NATO wants to do together as an alliance,” he said.
US, NATO and Ukrainian officials have expressed their concerns about the unusual military activity of Russia in the region close to the Ukrainian border in recent weeks, and the military activity was interpreted as Moscow’s preparations for an attack on its neighbor Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, described the allegations as “fear mongering”.
Donfried said that there is no statement to be made regarding the bilateral meeting as to whether Blinken will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Stockholm; but he added, “Keep watching.”
It remains unclear what Russia intends to do. East-West tensions are high with the military exercises of Ukraine, Russia and NATO. Moscow accused Washington of rehearsing a nuclear attack on Russia earlier this month.
A US State Department official was asked whether recent tensions have prompted Washington to seriously consider the option of deploying permanent troops to NATO’s eastern flank.
Donfried did not give a detailed answer to the question; However, he noted that NATO Foreign Ministers will discuss the broader strategy for the alliance’s standing in the 21st century next week.
“This year alone, 400 million dollars of aid was given to Ukraine”
He asked the US official, “Eight years after the annexation of Crimea, if Russia again violates the territorial integrity of Ukraine, why was a plan not ready and the US President of Poland and Prime Minister of Ukraine immediately increased NATO air patrol and It was asked whether he supported the calls for sending new ships to the Black Sea.
Donfried said that NATO has taken many steps in the last seven years to strengthen Ukraine’s self-defense capacity; During Zelensky’s visit to the White House, security assistance of 60 million dollars was announced to Ukraine; He said that this year alone, the United States gave $400 million to defend Ukraine’s territory and sovereignty.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke by phone with Andriy Yermak, Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine.
According to the White House statement, the two sides discussed concerns about Russia’s military activity near the Ukrainian border and its harsh rhetoric towards Ukraine.
It was stated that Sullivan and Yermak agreed that all parties should make diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions.
In a statement on the meeting, Yermak shared on Twitter that White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan “assured strong support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”