US President Joe Biden held a telephone conversation with the leaders of NATO and European Union member countries on the situation around Ukraine, the White House press pool reported on February 18.
The conversation began at 22:45 Moscow time and lasted almost an hour, ending at 23:33, journalists reported to Twitter.
At midnight Saturday, Biden plans to make a statement about the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border, the US presidential administration noted.
Biden held the meeting amid the escalation in Donbass and the evacuation of residents from the region to Russia.
Earlier that day, the heads of the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR), Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin, announced that the authorities had begun evacuating residents to Russia in connection with the shelling of Donbass. The first buses with refugees from the Donetsk People’s Republic began to arrive in the Rostov region. The Chelyabinsk region also stated that it was ready to accept residents of the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR.
Against the background of the aggravation of the situation on February 19, an extraordinary meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the conflict in Donbass will be held.
The fact that the American leader is going to hold a meeting was announced earlier on Friday by the office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It was noted that the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania and Great Britain, the European Union and NATO will take part in the conversation.
On the same day, a three-day security conference kicks off in Munich, Bavaria, on February 18. As experts told Izvestia, the role of one of the main challenges for European security in Munich was awarded to Russia. The tone for discussions on this topic was set in the report Turning the Tide – Unlearning Helplessness, in the chapter on Unrest on the Eastern Flank.
Western politicians and media representatives continue to spread numerous speculations about possible Russian aggression against Ukraine. The Russian side has repeatedly refuted such statements, emphasizing that it has no plans to invade a neighboring country. Thus, on January 28, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia was not going to start a war with Ukraine, and Western countries and the United States were “hysterically” developing the topic of a threat to Kiev from the Russian Federation, instead of forcing it to comply with the Minsk agreements.
On February 17, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the new dates of the invasion announced in the West, indicated that this only escalates tension and does not contribute to de-escalation in Ukraine.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
