Biden holds phone conversation with Zelensky
U.S. President Joseph Biden held a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, reports Interfax-Ukraine.
According to the US President's National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, during the conversation, Biden invited Zelensky to visit Washington this summer.
"He told President Zelensky that he looks forward to welcoming him to the White House here in Washington this summer after he returns from Europe," Sullivan said at a briefing.
Biden also assured Zelensky of Washington’s support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
According to Volodymyr Zelensky, the meeting is to be held in Washington next month.
"Thank you to Joseph Biden for inviting us to visit the White House in July this year. I am very much looking forward to the meeting to discuss ways to expand strategic cooperation between Ukraine and the United States," Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
According to the U.S. media, the White House considered the possibility to invite the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington ahead of Biden’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin but decided not to go ahead with the meeting after Zelensky replaced the leadership of the Ukrainian national gas company, Naftogaz.
Biden's meeting with Putin is scheduled for June 16. The sides are expected to discuss the situation in Ukraine and Belarus, as well as strategic stability.
The Ukrainian President said during a press conference marking the second year of his cadence that he feared that Biden and Putin would agree to lift sanctions from the Nord Stream.