Biden Warns Putin on Russian Troop Buildup Near Ukraine
Voice of America
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call Tuesday that the United States is concerned about Moscow's "sudden … military buildup" along Ukraine's border and in occupied Crimea. He called on Russia to "deescalate tensions," the White House said in a summary of the conversation.
"President Biden emphasized the United States' unwavering commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the White House said, but gave no assessment of Putin's reaction to the U.S. leader's remarks. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, with the U.S. and Western allies condemning the takeover but doing nothing to block it. Since then, Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region have fought Kyiv's troops, with skirmishes flaring periodically, sometimes intensely.A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's rocket launch during a news program at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. FILE - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks to reporters in Colombo, July 29, 2023. FILE - A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's spy satellite into orbit with its third launch attempt this year with an image of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 22, 2023.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.