US President Joe Biden, who on Tuesday returned to a Polish castle where he spoke shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, said the war had strengthened the West’s resolve to defend democracy around the world, the Associated Press reported.
Biden warned that “hard and bitter days are ahead”, but promised that the US and its allies would “guard Ukraine’s back”, as the war entered its second year.
“The democracies of the world will protect freedom today, tomorrow and forever.” the US president said at the historic Royal Castle in Warsaw to a jubilant audience of Poles and Ukrainian refugees.
“Putin no longer doubts the strength of our coalition, but he still doubts our conviction, he doubts our resilience, he doubts our continued support for Ukraine, he doubts whether NATO can stay united. But he shouldn’t there is no doubt. Our support for Ukraine will not waver. NATO will not be divided and we will not tire.” Biden said.
Regarding the calls of some European leaders, including Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, to stop military aid to Ukraine in order to achieve peace, Biden said that autocrats cannot be appeased with concessions, and opposition is needed for them.
Biden delivered his speech a day after his daring and unannounced trip to Kiev, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Kyiv is strong”, Biden said. “Kyiv is proud”, he added.
Before his speech, Biden met with Polish President Andrzej Duda, who began a series of consultations with allies to prepare them for an even more complicated stage of the Russian invasion.
“We must have security in Europe” Biden said at the presidential palace in Warsaw. “It’s so basic, so simple, so logical,” he said.
The US President defined NATO as “perhaps the most consistent union in history” and stated that he was “stronger than ever” despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hopes that it would fall apart over the war in Ukraine.
“Together we must make Russia pay for its atrocities.” continued Biden, announcing new sanctions this week from the US and its partners, for “to punish those responsible for this war”.
“Looking back a year since the beginning of the war, we must remember – defense and freedom are not the work of a day or a year. They are always difficult, but always significant. Next year, I will welcome to the United States every member of the NATO 2024 meeting and together we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the alliance. And let everyone be clear, Russia too – our commitment to Article 5 – an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all NATO members. This is a sacred oath – to defend every inch from NATO territory”, the president said.
The President of the United States concluded his speech by saying: “The decisions we will make in the next 5 years will predetermine our lives for decades. The choice is between chaos, between creation and destruction, between hope and fear, between democracy, which lifts the human spirit, and fragility in the hands of dictators who destroy it. There is nothing sweeter than freedom. And what we must do now is that our children and grandchildren know it well. Freedom. God bless all those around the world who defend freedom.”
Earlier today, Putin announced that Moscow would temporarily suspend its participation in the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the United States.
The so-called New START treaty limits the number of long-range nuclear warheads they can deploy and restricts the use of missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
Biden criticized Putin throughout his speech, but made no mention of suspending New START.
In his meeting with Biden, Polish President Andrzej Duda praised the US president’s unannounced visit to Kiev as “spectacular” and said it was “raised the morale of the defenders of Ukraine”.
Duda said the visit was “a sign that the free world and its most important leader, the president of the United States, continues to support him.”
On Wednesday, Biden plans to meet again with Duda along with other leaders of the so-called Bucharest Nine, which includes 9 member countries on NATO’s eastern flank (Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Estonia). .
The conflict in Ukraine, Europe’s biggest war since World War II, has already killed tens of thousands of people, devastated Ukraine’s infrastructure and damaged the global economy.
With no end to the war in sight, the first anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion is a critical moment for Biden to try to bolster European unity and reiterate that the invasion ordered by Putin was a frontal attack on the world order after WWII. The White House hopes that the president’s visits to Kiev and Warsaw will help strengthen American and global resolve, AP said.
Last summer, the Biden administration announced it was establishing a permanent American garrison in Poland, creating a permanent American foothold on NATO’s eastern flank.
“The truth is that the US needs Poland and NATO just as much as NATO needs the US,” Biden told his host Duda.
“Wall Street Journal”: The US is preparing sanctions against 200 Russian individuals and organizations
The administration of US President Joe Biden is preparing to impose new sanctions on about 200 Russian individuals and legal entities, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a source familiar with the situation. The restrictions are part of measures to mark the anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine, which also include another $460 million in military aid to Kiev.
“The new sanctions come at a time when Washington and its allies, especially in Europe, are looking for new ways to deny Moscow access to critical materials intended to strengthen its defense and technology sectors.” writes the publication.
Earlier, the “IU Observer” reported on the introduction of EU sanctions against 62 Russians, including the Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova and the commander of the airborne troops Mikhail Teplinski.
