Biden assures Ukraine’s leader of US support to deter Russia

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, MATTHEW LEE and NOMAAN MERCHANT
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has reached out to Ukraine’s leader as the United States moves to take a more direct role in diplomacy between that country and Russia. It’s part of a broader effort to dissuade Russia from a destabilizing invasion of its western neighbor. Biden made his offer of American diplomacy during a two-hour online session with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. Biden spoke Thursday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by phone for more than an hour. In a tweet, the Ukrainian leader said the two “discussed possible formats for resolving the conflict in Donbas and touched upon the course of internal reforms in Ukraine.”