Biden, Ukrainian president discuss Russian war crimes, sanctions

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Biden, Ukrainian president discuss Russian war crimes, sanctions

The White House said on Wednesday that President Joe Biden called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to update him on ongoing U.S. support for Ukraine.

In a tweet following the call, Zelenskyy said that the leaders had discussed Russian war crimes and additional package of defensive and possible macro-financial aid, and agreed to increase sanctions. Three senior administration officials said this week that the White House was preparing to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine, with equipment that appears to be specifically designed to help Ukrainian forces fight Russia in the eastern Donbas region.

Biden said Tuesday that he considers Russia's actions in Ukraine to be a genocide, going a step further than he has in the past. After Biden said he was wrong to say that Russia had accused them of genocide on April 3, Zelenskyy called the statement the true words of a true leader. The two leaders last spoke on March 30, following Biden's trip to Europe.