President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are holding a joint press convention in Italy on Thursday, the identical day the 2 leaders are anticipated to signal a long-term safety settlement.
The settlement fulfills a pledge final 12 months to solidify Ukrainian safety and is supposed to be a bridge to an eventual invitation to Ukraine to hitch NATO. The president’s information convention with Zelenskyy follows a day of conferences with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and leaders of the opposite G7 nations with superior industrialized economies. The G7 nations are the U.S., Italy, Canada, Germany, France, Canada and the United Kingdom.
“By signing this we’ll even be sending Russia a sign of our resolve,” White House nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan advised reporters Wednesday. “If Vladimir Putin thinks he can outlast the coalition supporting Ukraine, he is mistaken.”
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As Mr. Biden was departing the U.S. for Italy, the Treasury and Commerce departments introduced a brand new spherical of sanctions focusing on Russia and its “conflict machine.” The newest sanctions are aimed toward slowing Russia’s army development because it continues its conflict in Ukraine. The sanctions will make it more durable for Russia to import provides to construct army tools, although they are going to nonetheless enable meals and items to get into Russia exterior these sectors.
More than a dozen different nations have comparable safety agreements with Ukraine.
The Biden administration is now permitting Ukraine to make use of U.S. weapons throughout the border into Russia close to the town of Kharkiv, a coverage change that Sullivan mentioned got here with Russia opening a brand new entrance in its conflict.
“Our place right here we imagine is simple and customary sensical,” Sullivan mentioned. “Russians are launching assaults from one facet of the border instantly on to the opposite facet of the border. And Ukraine ought to have the ability to fireplace again throughout that border.”
Mr. Biden and Zelenskyy additionally met final week, on the sidelines of D-Day memorial occasions in France. Then, Mr. Biden publicly apologized to Zelenskyy for a monthslong holdup in army help that allowed Russia to make features in its conflict.
“You have not bowed down. You have not yielded in any respect,” Mr. Biden advised Zelenskyy in France. “You proceed to struggle in a manner that’s simply exceptional, simply exceptional. We’re not going to stroll away from you.”
