US President Joe Biden spoke by phone Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for about an hour, according to the White House.
Zelensky posted after the call that they “shared assessment of the situation on the battlefield and at the negotiating table, talked about specific defensive support, a new package of enhanced sanctions, macro-financial and humanitarian aid.”
In a statement, the White House said Biden told the Ukrainian president that the US “intends to provide the government of Ukraine with $500 million in direct budget aid” in the call.
Budget aid will aim to help pay salaries, among other things, according to a US government official.
“Leaders discussed how the U.S. is working 24 hours a day to address Ukraine’s key security assistance requests, the critical effects these weapons have had on the conflict, and ongoing efforts with allies and partners to identify additional resources to assist the military. Ukrainians to defend their country,” the White House says, adding that Biden also “reviewed the additional sanctions and humanitarian assistance announced last week.”
The call was scheduled for 10:45 am U.S. time, 5:45 pm Kiev, (11:45 am EDT) “to discuss our continued support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.” The conversation started at 11:08 am US time (6:08 pm in Ukraine and 12:08 pm in Brasilia) and ended at 12:03 pm US time (7:03 pm in Kiev and 1:03 pm in Brazilian time).
The call comes a day after Biden and other US officials expressed extreme caution and distrust at signs that Russia was scaling back its military operations near Kiev.
The US administration suggested it was waiting to see stronger signs of de-escalation before making an assessment of Moscow’s intentions.
“We’ll see. I don’t read anything until I see what their actions are. We’ll see if they follow through on what they’re suggesting,” Biden said at the White House on Tuesday. The US president noted that, in the meantime, the country will continue to “keep sanctions strong” and “provide the Ukrainian military with the ability to defend itself.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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