Conversation between US and Ukrainian Presidents Joseph Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky, passed “badly”. CNN informed a high-ranking Ukrainian official on condition of anonymity.
The parties allegedly differed in their assessment of the “level of risk” of the Russian attack. The White House questioned the version and warned that anonymous sources were spreading “false rumors.”
The Ukrainian official called the conversation “long and sincere.” According to him, Biden warned Zelenský that the Russian attack was almost inevitable, because the country would freeze in February. The Ukrainian president has objected that the threat from Moscow remains “dangerous but ambiguous.”
National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horn has questioned what the Ukrainian official said.
“President Biden said there was clear possibility that the Russians may invade Ukraine in February. He said it publicly, and we've been drawing this attention for months. “Reports of anything bigger or other than this are completely false,” she said.
Emily Horn also said that Biden had promised to provide Kiev with about half a billion dollars in economic development and humanitarian aid. The presidents did not discuss increasing military aid. The US president said he was not yet ready to introduce a new package of economic anti-Russian sanctions. To date, there has been no progress in Ukraine's accession to NATO.
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