US President Joe Biden on Saturday sought to reassure Poland of Washington’s dedication to the protection of Japanese Europe within the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, insisting the NATO mutual protection pact was a “sacred dedication.”
Biden was talking through the second day of his go to to Poland after talks with President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw.
“Your freedom is ours,” Biden mentioned, echoing considered one of Poland’s unofficial mottos.
“I am assured that Vladimir Putin was relying on dividing NATO,” Biden mentioned concerning the Russian president. “However he hasn’t been in a position to do it. We have all stayed collectively.”
Poland handed a ‘large accountability’
As the biggest NATO member within the former jap bloc, Poland is taking part in a key position within the Western response to Russia’s invasion.
The US president famous that Poland was “taking over an enormous accountability, however it ought to be all of NATO’s accountability.”
Biden additionally responded to hypothesis that Russia has modified its army technique, after Moscow mentioned its focus was now to utterly “liberate” the breakaway jap Ukrainian area of Donbas.
“I’m not certain they’ve,” Biden mentioned when requested by a reporter if Russia had altered its course.
Duda, in the meantime, mentioned he had requested Biden about the potential for rushing
up army purchases, referring to purchases of Patriot missile methods, artillery rocket methods, F-35 jets and Abrams tanks.
Three-way talks in Warsaw
Earlier, Biden dropped in on talks between US, Polish and Ukrainian authorities officers concerning the world response to the battle.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin attended the assembly alongside with Ukrainian Overseas Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Protection Minister Oleksii Reznikov.
The officers mentioned “the US’ unwavering dedication to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” State Division spokesperson Ned Value informed reporters.
On Friday, Biden spoke to US troopers stationed round 100 kilometers from the border with Ukraine
Biden visits refugee heart in Warsaw
The US president additionally accompanied Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski to Warsaw’s Nationwide Stadium, the place Ukrainian refugees are being registered and supplied with support.
Poland has taken in greater than 2.2 million out of an estimated 3.5 million refugees who’ve fled Ukraine because the Russian invasion started greater than a month in the past.
Requested what he considered Putin after assembly the refugees, Biden mentioned: “He is a butcher.”
After arriving in Poland on Friday, Biden visited a refugee heart close to the southeastern metropolis of Rzeszow, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
Biden’s go to to Poland follows his look at a trio of summits in Brussels on Thursday.
mm, wmr/kb (Reuters, dpa, AFP)