US President Joe Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday that the United States will give Ukraine an additional $500 million in aid, the White House said in a statement.
The United States did not clarify whether that money will be for humanitarian purposes or will come in the form of military aid.
According to the White House, the two leaders spoke by phone for about an hour, between 11:08 a.m. (3:08 p.m. GMT) and 12:03 p.m. local time (4:03 p.m. GMT).
On the call, the two discussed efforts by the US and its allies to identify “additional capabilities” to assist the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
They also discussed the military aid that the Biden administration has already sent to Ukraine and how those weapons have had a “critical effect” on the conflict, according to the White House.
On Twitter, Zelensky said he spoke with Biden about military and humanitarian aid, as well as “a new enhanced sanctions package,” neither side offered further details.
Also, according to Zelensky and the White House, the two leaders discussed the situation on the battlefield and the negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, who met in Istanbul on Tuesday to approach positions for a ceasefire.
In those talks, Russian negotiators pledged to significantly reduce the number of troops around Kyiv and the besieged northern city of Chernihiv to focus on conquering Donbas, the Kremlin’s primary objective.
For their part, Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul said that Ukraine is ready to renounce membership of any military alliance, including NATO if in exchange it receives written security guarantees from ten countries (UK, China, Russia, US, France, Turkey, Germany, Canada, Poland, and Israel).
Neither Zelensky nor the White House referred to this request from Ukraine, which wants this agreement with the US and other nations to be a way to resolve any new conflict with Russia.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24 and has left at least four million refugees, according to UNHCR.
