US President Joe Biden is already meeting foreign leaders in person at the White House. Recently, Biden has now extended an invitation to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to meet with him at the White House in the summer.
Biden has invited Zelensky to come to the White House in the summer through his phone conversation with the Ukrainian leader. This follows concerns raised by Zelensky regarding Biden’s upcoming meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and regarding the natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany that would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine. The phone call comes ahead of Biden’s trip to Europe for the G7 and NATO summits.
Zelensky thanked Biden for the invitation. “Thank you @POTUS @JoeBiden for inviting me to visit the @WhiteHouse in July during our phone conversation. I look forward to this meeting to discuss ways to expand strategic cooperation between Ukraine and the USA,” tweeted the Ukrainian leader.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the two leaders discussed the issues in the US-Ukraine relationship. Sullivan added that Biden assured Zelensky that he supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity moving forward. This follows the tensions that have been rising between Ukraine and Russia especially at the border the two countries share. The increased military presence by Russia also highlighted tensions.
Ukraine has also said that the Biden administration was committed to sending 900,000 COVID-19 vaccines to Kyiv. This follows the White House’s announcement that the US will be sending 80 million COVID-19 vaccine doses overseas.
Meanwhile, Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman has also urged Biden to make clear to Putin that the US stands with Eastern European nations while opposing efforts made by Russia to dominate the region through the use of military force, disinformation, and cyberattacks. This also follows Portman’s trip to Eastern Europe, visiting Lithuania, Ukraine, and Georgia with two of his Democratic colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chris Murphy and Jeanne Shaheen.
The three US lawmakers also met with Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya to discuss the human rights abuses that have occurred under the authoritarian regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.