President Joe Biden will host a call with allies on Thursday about next steps in support of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Biden will lead the video session late Thursday morning Washington time with several participants, including Group of Seven leaders, as well as the leaders of NATO and the European Union, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity before the discussion. It wasn’t immediately clear who else would participate.
The video format was used in the early months of the war, and Biden is reviving it with the approach the seven-month mark of the conflict, one of the people said.
Biden has sought to maintain unity in backing Ukraine. His conversation with the other leaders comes in a week in which the UK has sworn in a new leader, Liz Truss, who has positioned herself as a hawk in the confrontation with Russia.
The call will take place as Ukraine pursues an offensive against Russian forces and as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepares to meet China President Xi Jinping for the first time since since the war began in February.
That encounter will be on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit that runs from Sept. 15-16 in Uzbekistan, Russia’s ambassador to China Andrey Denisov said, according to a Tass report.
Both Putin and Xi also plan to attend the Group of 20 summit on the Indonesian resort island of Bali in November, according to Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote in Wednesday’s Financial Times that the war is “entering a critical phase” and warned of a tough winter ahead for members of the military alliance that could include “energy cuts, disruptions and perhaps even civil unrest.”
