A US congressional delegation led by Jason Crowe visited Kyiv to discuss Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
Ukraine , Ukraingate , 20 , December , 2021 | Ukraine News
“US Congressman Jason Crowe led a congressional delegation to Kyiv to discuss Russia’s aggressive military build-up in and around Ukraine and to hear assessments from Ukrainian officials and the military leadership.
Congressman Crowe, along with his colleagues Brad Wenstrup and Rick Crawford, stressed the bipartisan support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and its Euro-Atlantic trajectory. The delegation also reaffirmed the US commitment to diplomacy and dialogue in de-escalating tensions over Russian military forces and supporting tough measures in response to any further Russian military invasion of Ukrainian sovereign territory, the statement said.
Addition
Jake Sullivan, US presidential aide for national security, said Russia had not yet decided on a possible invasion of Ukraine.
Sullivan also said that the United States is ready to discuss with Russia the list of requirements for security guarantees provided to it, but Washington also has its own proposals.
Context
The Russian Foreign Ministry revealed the contents of this eight-item list to the US authorities on December 17. In particular, Russia believes that the United States should not establish military bases in the countries of the former Soviet Union, and calls on Washington to commit to excluding further NATO expansion to the east. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said security talks with Russia should involve US partners in Europe. The European Union has stressed that Russia must accept and respect the right of other countries to choose their foreign policy and the alliances they would like to join.
The Ukrainian government and Western partners have recently drawn attention to Russia’s aggravation of the security situation in Donbas, the build-up of Russian forces along the border with Ukraine, the danger of a new Russian invasion and increased Russian disinformation.
Putin’s main demand is assurances from the United States and its allies that NATO will not expand further east and will not deploy weapons systems there that Russia considers a threat.
Against this background, the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, held bilateral talks on December 7 via video link, which lasted two hours.
According to US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at a briefing following the talks between Putin and Biden, Joe Biden did not make concessions to Vladimir Putin on guarantees not to allow Ukraine to join NATO.
Source: Ukrgate
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