President Joe Biden “looks forward” to hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Aug. 30, White House officials announced on Wednesday.
“The visit will affirm the United States’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression in the Donbas and Crimea, our close cooperation on energy security, and our backing for President Zelensky’s efforts to tackle corruption and implement a reform agenda based on our shared democratic values,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
US LIFTED NORD STREAM 2 SANCTIONS TO GAIN GERMAN COOPERATION IN SAFEGUARDING UKRAINE, BIDEN SAYS
Biden extended a White House invitation to his Ukrainian counterpart back in June, after Zelensky told Axios that he had petitioned the administration to schedule a face-to-face meeting ahead of Biden’s June summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The announcement of the August meeting came as federal officials informed congressional lawmakers that the U.S. and Germany had brokered a deal for the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline without additional sanctions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Official tells lawmakers US, Germany have reached deal allowing completion of Russian pipeline without new sanctions.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) July 21, 2021
Biden told reporters during his bilateral press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel just days prior that he decided to lift the Nord Stream 2 sanctions this past spring to earn German cooperation in safeguarding Ukraine from Russian aggression.
“By the time I became president, it was 90% completed, and imposing sanctions did not seem to make any sense,” he said at the time. “It made more sense to work with the chancellor on finding out how she would proceed based on whether or not Russia tried to essentially blackmail Ukraine in some way.”
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Zelensky did not meet with Biden’s predecessor, former President Donald Trump, in Washington, D.C., despite actively lobbying for a meeting, although the leaders did hold a summit at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2019.
