The US president has met in person with Oleksii Reznikov and Kiev’s leading diplomat, Dmytro Kuleba
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has said he is feeling “cautiously optimistic” following talks with US President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the Polish capital, Warsaw, on Saturday. Representing Ukraine along with Reznikov was Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Speaking afterwards to journalists, Kuleba said his country had received “additional promises from the United States on how our defense co-operation will evolve.” The official also revealed that Kiev and Washington had agreed on possible ways to put pressure on Europe so it imposed more sanctions on Russia.
A statement published by the White House said President Biden had updated the two Ukrainian ministers on “US efforts to rally the world in support of Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression,” as well as its “ongoing actions to hold President Putin accountable.” Those actions were being taken “in coordination with our allies and partners,” the readout noted, “including through the new sanctions announced by the president in Brussels on March 24.”
The talks in Poland marked the first face-to-face meeting between Biden and leading Ukrainian officials since the launch of Russia’s offensive on February 24.
Saturday is the last day of Biden’s European tour aimed at drumming up NATO unity in the face of the Ukraine conflict. According to media reports, the meeting between the officials lasted roughly 30 minutes.
The talks came hours after Andriy Yermak, a senior aide to the Ukrainian president, lamented the apparent lack of support on the part of NATO. In an interview with the Atlantic Council, he accused the alliance of “taking decisions as if there [were] no war.”
On Friday, Russia’s military released a statement claiming the first stage of Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine had been successfully completed, and that the offensive was going to plan.
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