United States President Joe Biden reaffirmed the western bloc’s support towards Ukraine and emphasised the “nothing about you without you” principle in a diplomatic meeting on Sunday with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The principle meant the United States would not negotiate a policy that impacts Europe without its allies’ input.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said in a statement after the call, “President Biden made clear that the United States and its allies and partners will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine”, according to reports from Associated Press.

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Zelenskyy said in a Twitter posting after Sunday’s call that “keeping peace in Europe, preventing further escalation, reforms, deoligarchization were discussed.”

“We appreciate the unwavering support,” Zelenskyy said.

The meeting comes right before a series of diplomatic engagements have been scheduled between world leaders to address and de-escalate the faceoff.

Biden has previously reaffirmed that Russia will face a tightened economy following American sanctions if it decides to move eastwards, however, military action has been kept on the backburner.

United States President Joe Biden provided reassurance to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday in a meeting about Russia’s troop buildup along its borders. Biden said the United States and its allies will act “decisively” if Russia invades Ukraine.

Also Read: Ukraine’s military high on morale, short on weaponry against Russian threat

The Kremlin has demanded that any further expansion of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) exclude Ukraine and other former Soviet countries. The Russians have also demanded that the military alliance remove offensive weaponry from countries in the region.

The White House has dismissed Russia’s demands on NATO as a non-starter. A key principle of the NATO alliance is that membership is open to any qualifying country. And no outsider has membership veto power. While there is little prospect that Ukraine would be invited into the alliance anytime soon, the United States and its allies would not rule it out, according to reports from Associated Press.