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No plans yet for Biden’s visit to Ukraine, White House official says

"Our focus right now is to continue to have the conversations on the staff level to continue to make sure that we keep the door to diplomacy open," White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said

US President Joe Biden AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

US President Joe Biden

© AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

WASHINGTON, February 15. /TASS/. There are currently no plans for US President Joe Biden’s visit to Ukraine, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing, commenting on an invitation to Biden from Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

"I don’t have any travel plans to announce or preview at this time," she said.

"We don’t have travel to confirm right now, that is what the president’s schedule looks like and it’s certainly not confirming to go to visit Ukraine," Jean-Pierre noted. "Our focus right now is to continue to have the conversations on the staff level to continue to make sure that we keep the door to diplomacy open," she added.

The Ukrainian presidential office said on Sunday that Zelensky had invited Biden to visit the country in their recent phone call. According to Zelensky, such a visit would be "a strong signal" facilitating efforts to ease tensions around Ukraine.

The West and Kiev have recently been echoing allegations about Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded", serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such claims and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences.

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