U.S. not to pressure Ukraine to make territorial concessions to Russia - Biden

WASHINGTON. June 1 (Interfax) - The United States will not pressure Ukraine to make any territorial concessions to Russia, U.S. President Joe Biden said.

"My principle throughout this crisis has been 'Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine'. I will not pressure the Ukrainian government - in private or public - to make any territorial concessions. It would be wrong and contrary to well-settled principles to do so," Biden said in an article published by the New York Times.

He blamed Moscow, which did not stop the special military operation, for the stalling Ukraine-Russia talks.

"The United States will continue to work to strengthen Ukraine and support its efforts to achieve a negotiated end to the conflict," Biden said.

He also said the United States would continue to work on anti-Russian sanctions with the allies and would be supplying modern weapons to Ukraine.

"We will work with our allies and partners to address the global food crisis [...] And we will help our European allies and others reduce their dependence on Russian fossil fuels, and speed our transition to a clean energy future," Biden said.

"We are not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its borders," he added.

"We do not want to prolong the war just to inflict pain on Russia," Biden said.

Biden also said the United States does not seek a war between NATO and Russia.

"So long as the United States or our allies are not attacked, we will not be directly engaged in this conflict, either by sending American troops to fight in Ukraine or by attacking Russian forces," he said.

Biden added that he did not seek to topple the incumbent Russian administration.

"As much as I disagree with [Russian President] Mr. Putin [...] the United States will not try to bring about his ouster in Moscow," he said.