Biden speaks with Zelensky ahead of U.S.-Russia summit

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday reaffirmed U.S. support to Kiev in a call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, an effort to reassure Ukraine ahead of the U.S.-Russia summit later this month, reported Xinhua.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a White House briefing that Biden told Zelensky that "he will stand up firmly for Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its aspirations" and "looks forward to welcoming him to the White House here in Washington this summer."

The phone call came as Kiev raised concern about Biden's upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the U.S. recent move on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project between Russia and Germany.

In a recent interview with Axios, Zelensky said he was "surprised" and "disappointed" by U.S. decision to waive sanctions against a company and its CEO behind the Nord Stream 2 project.

The Ukrainian leader also expressed the hope to meet with Biden before the U.S.-Russia summit scheduled in mid-June.

Sullivan on Monday stressed that Biden's meeting with Putin was not a reward for Russia, but an attempt to "manage our differences and to identify those areas where we can work in America's interests to make progress."

Meanwhile, he noted the Biden administration does not expect significant deliverables from the summit.

The relationship between the United States and Russia is about verification instead of trust, Sullivan added. "It's about a relationship of clarifying what our expectations are and laying out that if certain kinds of harmful activities continue to occur, there will be responses from the United States."

Biden will begin the first foreign trip of his presidency later this week. He will visit Britain from June 9 to 13 to attend the Group of Seven (G7) Summit and hold bilateral meetings with leaders of G7 members.

The president will then travel to Brussels, Belgium to participate in the NATO Summit, and his meeting with Putin is scheduled on June 16 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Relations between Washington and Moscow have been adversarial in recent years. The two sides have obvious differences on issues related to Ukraine, cybersecurity, human rights, and U.S. election interference.