Feb. 21 (UPI) — President Joe Biden was in Poland Tuesday to urge Western allies to continue their support of Ukraine along with pressuring Russia.
Biden is delivering remarks from the Royal Castle in Warsaw Tuesday after meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
While honoring the determination of the Ukrainian people against what is considered the second-strongest military in the world, Biden will call for its alliance to remain united as the Russian invasion passes its one-year anniversary.
In Biden’s meeting with Duda, the White House said the two leaders talked about their shared efforts to support Ukraine, and impose penalties on Russia along with NATO.
Biden praised Duda and Poland for their support, particularly in welcoming more than 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees into their country. They also addressed growing cooperation in the energy sector, developing a stronger bilateral defense relationship and strengthening democratic values.
Duda said Biden’s surprise trip to Kyiv was “spectacular.” In return, Biden said the United States will remain a strong ally of Ukraine, Poland and other Central and European nations.
“What he wants to have the opportunity to do is set this — Russia’s war on Ukraine into a larger context — a context that reminds people where we were on the eve of this war a year ago, when there were fundamental questions being asked — being asked of the international order, being asked of the United States, being asked of the NATO Alliance,” Sullivan said in a briefing Tuesday before the speech.
In his State of the Nation speech earlier Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the United States and its Western allies for the war, saying that Moscow had no choice but to invade Ukraine to protect its own country.
On Tuesday before his speech, Biden said Poland’s support for Ukraine was “truly extraordinary.”
“The connection between Polish and American people is extremely strong and deep,” Biden said. “A lot of challenges we have to face but I’m confident we can do it together.”
Sullivan said earlier that Biden is not expected to directly respond to Putin’s speech during his Poland address.
“We did not set the speech up some kind of head-to-head,” Sullivan said. “This is not a rhetorical contest with anyone else.”