China News Agency, Washington, February 19 (Reporter Chen Mengtong) After a week, US President Biden once again had a collective call with NATO allies and EU leaders on the 18th to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
Data map: US President Biden.
The White House said in a statement that they discussed further economic aid to Ukraine, securing the defense of NATO's eastern flank, and pledged to continue to de-escalate tensions through diplomatic means.
French President Macron, German Chancellor Scholz, British Prime Minister Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Draghi, Polish President Duda, Romanian President Johannes and NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg, President of the European Commission Von der Leyen and others attended the meeting.
After the call, Biden made another public speech on the Ukraine issue, saying that Russia still has diplomatic options and it is not too late to de-escalate tensions and return to the negotiating table.
Biden once again emphasized that the United States and its allies will support the Ukrainian people, and the Western countries are united.
If Russia takes action to escalate the situation, it will be severely sanctioned.
Biden said U.S. Secretary of State Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet in Europe next week.
"If the Russians act by that date, they will obviously close the door on diplomatic channels."
In the context of the continued tension on the Russian-Ukrainian border, US Vice President Harris, Secretary of Defense Austin and others have visited Europe this week. At the same time, the US has continued to maintain the tone that Russia will "invade" Ukraine for several days.
U.S. Defense Secretary Austin also spoke again on the phone with Russian Defense Minister Shoigu on the situation in Ukraine on the 18th.
During the call, Austin called on Russia to ease tensions and resolve the Ukraine issue through diplomatic channels, the Pentagon said.
White House Press Secretary Psaki said at a press conference on the same day that the meeting between the foreign ministers of the United States and Russia next week itself shows that the United States is open to resolving the Ukraine issue through diplomacy. When conducting diplomatic dialogue, it is equally important that we also consider how Russia will respond."
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