Before the Biden-Putin summit: Western heads of state support Ukraine

Before the Biden-Putin summit, heads of state from Germany, the United States, France, Italy and Great Britain showed their support for Ukraine. In the evening, the NATO Military Committee took up the movements of Russian troops.

In view of the growing military tensions with Russia, Germany, the USA, France, Italy and Great Britain clearly supported Ukraine. The French Elysee Palace announced this evening that the heads of state and government of the five countries expressed their “determination to” respect “the sovereignty” of Ukraine “in a conference call.

The agreement between the five allies came on the eve of the highly anticipated video summit between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A joint appeal in Putin

With Russian forces moving on the Ukrainian border, Western governments worry that Russia may be preparing an attack on the neighboring country. In the phone call, the heads of government confirmed, according to Paris, their readiness “to work for the maintenance of peace and security in Europe.”

Accordingly, they again appealed to Putin to continue negotiations to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine in the so-called Normandy format. In addition to Russia and Ukraine, Germany and France are also participating in the talks.

The United States threatens Russia with forces and sanctions

The White House had previously warned that the United States would be prepared to increase its military presence in Eastern Europe and impose “severe economic sanctions” if Russian forces entered eastern Ukraine. Washington is not currently considering a direct military response.

Moscow has repeatedly denied any military intentions and accused Western powers of intensifying “provocations”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited soldiers on the front line in the east of his country.

Pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian army have been fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014 after Moscow annexed Crimea. In the conflict, Russia supports the separatists who have declared the so-called people’s republics of Luhansk and Donetsk. More than 13,000 people have died in the conflict so far.

NATO Military Committee deals with Russia in a special session

In the evening, the Chiefs of Staff of the 30 NATO countries held a special meeting to discuss Russian troop movements close to the Ukrainian border. According to information from the German news agency, the talks in the military committee of the alliance included US information that Russia had made preparations for an attack on Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said last week that he was “deeply concerned about evidence that Russia has plans to take significant aggressive steps against Ukraine.” NATO did not release details of the talks, which took place via video conference.

In a press release only, it was stated that the Commander-in-Chief for Europe and the Assistant Secretary-General for Intelligence and Security Cooperation briefed participants on security challenges. The aim of the exchange was to achieve a common understanding of the situation in order to strengthen the alliance’s deterrence and defense system. In addition, the goal was to enhance transparency among Alliance partners and to coordinate ongoing activities.