Biden Put All Issues on Hold To Show That the US Is the Major Ally of Kyiv

If the war is escalated by Putin, cooperation programs for Ukraine will be accelerated.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a key event in the next escalation of the situation between Ukraine and Russia. The conversation lasted more than 40 minutes, and was really meaningful, unlike Zelensky’s first conversation with Donald Trump.

According to the White House press release, Biden stated that he:

• will support Ukraine in confronting Russian aggression in Donbass and Crimea;

• is waiting for the implementation of the anti-corruption plan;

• is waiting for reforms in the fields of justice, security and the economy that Ukraine has committed to implementing.

Only the implementation of these reforms will speed up the integration of Ukraine into NATO.

The main point is that Biden showed Zelensky that the United States is still our reliable ally amid the worst crisis, and is ready to help us defend our country with all its might.

As you know, Biden did not want to talk to Zelensky earlier to teach him a lesson. There were questions to which the Ukrainian leadership didn’t have an answer — the failure of most of the points of the memorandum with the International Monetary Fund, the systemic blows to the anti-corruption system, and the investigation of Biden’s conversations with Petro Poroshenko on suspicion of high treason.

However, Biden put all these issues on hold to show that the United States is Ukraine’s major ally. Thus, the foreign policy situation is now the most favorable for Ukraine. In such circumstances, if the war is escalated by Vladimir Putin, cooperation programs will be accelerated for Ukraine and assistance will be provided.

What has given Ukraine such credibility? Well, here is what. Every Russian invader killed on the front line proves our struggle for freedom and strengthens Ukraine’s international reputation.

So, thank you to everyone who continues their difficult combat operations on the front line every day — it is not in vain! The people in the trenches and those who help them are the ones who develop a reputation for our country and arouse sympathy and a desire to help us from all over the world. Biden’s phone call is primarily the merit of Ukrainian soldiers and civil society.

Nevertheless, another question arises: How many more years will the United States continue to persuade Ukrainian leadership to carry out the reforms that we need ourselves? I hope that the president of Ukraine will realize that Biden’s phone call is not an absolution; it is an obligation to build the country, to establish government institutions, to develop strategies, because the country is far more than a desk in the presidential office …

The author, Yurii Butusov, is a journalist.