Biden promised US and ally commitment to Ukraine during speech in Poland

WARSAW, Poland (AP) – President Joe Biden, returning Tuesday 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.

He warned that “hard and bitter days” lay ahead, but vowed that the United States and its allies would “cover Ukraine” as the war entered its second year.

“The democracies of the world will stand guard over freedom today, tomorrow and always,” he said at the Royal Castle, Warsaw’s historic landmark, to a cheering crowd of Polish citizens and Ukrainian refugees.

Biden’s speech comes a day after his audacious, unannounced trip to Kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Kyiv stands strong,” Biden said. Kyiv is proud.

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Before his speech, Biden met with Polish President Andrzej Duda as he began a series of consultations with allies to prepare for an even more difficult phase of the Russian invasion.

“We must have security in Europe,” Biden said at the presidential palace in Warsaw. “It’s so simple, so simple and consistent.”

He described NATO as “perhaps the most significant alliance in history” and said it was “stronger than ever” despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hopes that it would fall apart over the war in Ukraine.

Earlier Tuesday, Putin announced that Moscow was suspending 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 limits the use of missiles that can carry nuclear weapons.

Biden denounced Putin throughout the speech, but did not mention the suspension of START.

Duda, in a meeting with Biden, called the unannounced visit of the American president to Kyiv “exciting”, saying that he “raised the morale of the defenders of Ukraine.”

He said the visit was “a sign that the free world and its biggest leader, the President of the United States, stand by them.”

On Wednesday, Biden plans to meet Duda again along with other leaders of the Bucharest Nine, the group of the easternmost members of the NATO military alliance.

The conflict in Ukraine — the most significant war in Europe since World War II — has already killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed Ukrainian infrastructure and crippled the global economy.

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While Biden hopes to use his fast-paced trip to Europe as a moment of reaffirmation of Ukrainian and allied interests, the White House has also stressed that the war has no clear endgame in the near future and the situation on the ground is becoming increasingly tense. difficult.

On Sunday, the administration said it had new intelligence indicating that China, which has remained on the sidelines of the conflict, is now considering sending deadly aid to Moscow. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said this could become a “major problem” if Beijing gets its way.

Sullivan said Biden and Zelenskiy discussed the capabilities Ukraine will need “to succeed on the battlefield” in the coming months. Zelenskiy has been pushing for the US and European allies to provide long-range fighter jets and missile systems, known as ATACMS, which Biden has so far refused to provide. Sullivan declined to comment on whether there was any movement on the issue during the leaders’ call.

With no end in sight to the war, the anniversary is a critical moment for Biden to try to shore up European unity and reiterate that Putin’s invasion was a frontal assault on the post-World War II international order. The White House hopes that the president’s visit to Kyiv and Warsaw will help bolster American and global resolve.

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In the US, a poll released last week by the Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center shows that support for arms and direct economic aid to Ukraine is easing. And earlier this month, 11 Republicans in the House of Representatives introduced a resolution they called “Ukraine fatigue” calling for Biden to end military and financial aid to Ukraine while pushing Ukraine and Russia to reach a peace deal.

Biden dismissed the idea of ​​dwindling American support during his visit to Kyiv.

“Despite all the differences that we have in Congress on some issues, there is significant agreement regarding support for Ukraine,” Biden said in Kyiv. He described the conflict as “about the freedom of democracy in general”.

On the eve of the trip, the White House drew attention to Poland’s efforts to help Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, more than 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees have settled in Poland, and millions more have crossed the Polish border to other countries. Poland has also provided Ukraine with $3.8 billion worth of military and humanitarian aid, according to the White House.

Last summer, the Biden administration announced it was establishing a permanent US garrison in Poland, creating a solid American foothold on NATO’s eastern flank.

“The truth is that the United States needs Poland and NATO just as much as NATO needs the United States,” Biden said to Dude on Tuesday.

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Miller and Megerian reported from Washington. Associated Press contributors Monika Szyslowska in Warsaw, Evan Vucci in Kyiv, and Kevin Fracking in Washington contributed to this report.