Biden to rally allies as war in Ukraine grows more complex

WASHINGTON. President Joe Biden is set to hold consultations on Tuesday with allies on NATO’s eastern flank in Poland as the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches an even more difficult stage.

After an unannounced visit to Kyiv, Biden traveled to Warsaw on Monday on a mission to bolster Western unity as Ukraine and Russia prepare to launch a spring offensive. The conflict – the most significant war in Europe since World War II – has already claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, destroyed Ukraine’s infrastructure system and crippled the global economy.

“I thought it was very important that there be no doubt about US support for Ukraine in the war,” Biden said, standing next to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev before leaving for Poland. “The Ukrainian people have stepped up in a way that few have ever done in the past.”

Biden is due to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and deliver a speech from the gardens of Warsaw’s Royal Castle on Tuesday, where he is expected to highlight the commitment of the Central European nation and other allies to Ukraine over the past year. On Wednesday, he will hold consultations with Duda and other leaders of the Bucharest Nine, the group of the easternmost members of the NATO military alliance.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden, in a speech in Warsaw, would emphasize that Russian President Vladimir Putin mistakenly assumed that “Ukraine will take pity and the West will be divided” when he launched his invasion.

“He got the opposite of that across the board,” Sullivan said.

While Biden hopes to use his fast-paced trip to Europe as a moment of affirmation for Ukraine and allies, the White House also stressed that the war does not have a clear endgame in the near future and the situation on the ground is becoming increasingly complex. .

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 it 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.

“It will be a long war,” said Michal Baranowski, managing director of the German Marshall Fund East. “If we don’t have political leadership and if we don’t explain to our societies why this war is critical to their security…then Ukraine will be in trouble.”

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 and pushing Ukraine and Russia towards a peace deal.

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

“For all the disagreements that we have in Congress on some issues, there is significant agreement on supporting Ukraine,” he said. “It’s not just about freedom in Ukraine. … It is about the freedom of democracy in general.”

Some establishment Republicans say it’s more important than ever for Biden and others in Washington to get it into their heads why sustained support for Ukraine is so important.

“The bottom line for me is that this is a war of aggression, war crimes on steroids, on TV every day. If you turn your back on that, it will only lead to more aggression,” said Sen. Lindsay Graham, RS.C. “Putin will not stop at Ukraine. I firmly believe that continued assistance to Ukraine is in our vital national security interests and I can and will continue to sell this at home.”

Former US Ambassador John Herbst, who served as Ukraine’s top diplomat from 2003 to 2006, said the White House under Biden could do better by proving to domestic audiences that “keeping Putin at least in Ukraine” is linked to US economic and foreign policy issues. . political interest and reduces the likelihood that Russia could turn the conflict into a wider war.

“The wisest thing would be to give Ukraine substantial assistance to make sure that the Putin problem is solved,” said Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. “If this were clearly stated in the Oval Office and then constantly repeated by the president, his high-ranking department of foreign policy and homeland security, I have no doubt that the American public would take it.”

On the eve of the trip, the White House drew attention to Poland’s efforts to help Ukraine. More than 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees have settled in Poland since the start of the war, and millions more have crossed Poland on their way 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.

Since last year, the United States has provided about $113 billion in aid to Ukraine, while European allies have provided tens of billions more and taken in millions of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the conflict.

“We have built a coalition from the Atlantic to the Pacific,” Biden said. “Russia’s goal was to wipe Ukraine off the map. Putin’s war of conquest is failing.”

For the second time in less than a year, Biden will use Warsaw as the backdrop for a major speech about the Russian invasion. Last March, he denounced Putin strongly and very personally at the Royal Castle, just weeks after the war began.

Duda said Biden’s presence on Polish soil as the war anniversary approaches sends an important signal of US commitment to European security.

“In Warsaw, the president will make a very important address, which is awaited by most of the world, if not the whole world,” Duda said.

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