German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed in a call on Thursday, May 5, 2002 that 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.

“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.

U.S President, Joe 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.

The move concerns the military occupation of many parts of Ukraine as a souverain State during the military operation carried out by Russia.

Furthermore, President Putin signed a decree recognizing the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DPR) and the “Luhansk People’s Republic” (LPR) as independent states in February 2022 prior to the military operation in Ukraine. It laid out plans for “aid agreements” between Russia and the two separatist territories.

No Western country followed the recognition of these states. In fact, it was unanimously condemned by both the European Union and the United States.