Scholz, Biden agree to not acknowledge Russian territorial gains

BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed in a call on Thursday they would not recognize any Russian territorial gains in Ukraine, a German government spokesperson said in a statement.

The two leaders also denounced “recent comments of the Russian leadership seeking to discredit the democratically legitimized Ukrainian leadership,” the spokesperson said.

“They agreed that Ukraine needed to be further substantially and continuously supported in the practice of its legitimate right to self defence,” the spokesperson added.

Biden “welcomed Germany’s provision of security assistance and recent pledge of additional humanitarian aid, as well as their close partnership throughout this crisis,” the White House said in its statement on the call.

(Reporting by Hans-Edzard Busemann in Berlin and Tim Ahmann in Washington; Writing by Sarah MarshEditing by Frances Kerry)