US President Joe Biden convened a digital assembly of allies Tuesday to discuss the Ukraine struggle, the White House said, after Kyiv introduced Russia had released a major new offensive inside the state’s east.

The assembly, announced on Biden’s agenda, “is a part of our everyday coordination with allies and companions in assist of Ukraine,” a legit instructed AFP.

The videoconference kicked off just before 10:00 am (1400 GMT) and brought together the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Romania, Poland, Italy, Canada, and Japan.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg also took part in the call, as well as the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, according to the White House.

The meeting was to address “efforts to hold Russia accountable,” the White House said.

The videoconference comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia, which invaded its pro-Western neighbor on February 24, recently launched a large-scale offensive in the eastern Donbas region, a move predicted by Kyiv for weeks.

Fighting has intensified in eastern Ukraine after Russia withdrew troops from the region around the capital Kyiv and refocused its efforts in Donbas, which pro-Moscow separatists have partly controlled since 2014.

The United States and Western allies have heaped pressure on Moscow via sanctions while supporting Ukraine through military and other aid.

Asked Monday whether new measures might soon be introduced, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington would “preserve to increase our financial sanctions and different economic measures against the Russian Federation until and until Moscow relents in its campaign in opposition to Ukraine.”

“We have not yet seen that, and we’ll continue to raise the costs,” Price stated.