President Joe Biden said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin made a “huge mistake” by suspending his country’s participation in the latest US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty. The US president is in Poland to reassure the eastern NATO ally that the US will remain by their side amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In his first comments since Putin’s announcement Tuesday, Biden condemned Russia’s decision to withdraw from the treaty, known as New START. The move will have an immediate impact on US visibility into Russia’s nuclear activities, but the pact has been on life support following Moscow’s cancellation late last year of talks intended to salvage an agreement both sides accused of violating. .
“It was a big mistake,” Biden said.
The president’s comments came as he wrapped up a whirlwind, four-day visit to Poland and Ukraine with talks with leaders of the Bucharest Nine, a group of countries in the eastern part of the NATO alliance that came together in response to Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. He left Poland on Wednesday evening to return to Washington before Friday’s anniversary of the outbreak of war.
The power of the Bucharest Nine countries continues to grow as the Ukraine war drags on, with many worried that Putin may take military action next if he succeeds in Ukraine. The alliance includes Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
“You are the front line of our collective defense,” Biden said Wednesday from the group. “And you know, better than anyone, what is at stake in this conflict? Not only for Ukraine, but for the freedom of democracy throughout Europe and throughout the world.
He pledged that the NATO defense pact is “sacred” and that “we will defend literally every inch of NATO.”
A day earlier at the foot of the Warsaw Royal Castle to mark the somber milestone of the year-old Russian invasion, Biden warned that Russian aggression, if not checked, will not stop on the border of Ukraine. “The appetite of autocrats cannot be underestimated,” he said. “They have to fight back.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a right-wing populist leader who argued last week that the European Union was partly to blame for prolonging Russia’s war in Ukraine, has opposed sanctions on Moscow and supported Kyiv. Orban skipped the meeting with Biden, and President Katalin Novák attended.
However, Klaus Iohannis, the president of Romania, insisted that “B9 is stronger than before.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who attended the meeting, said, “We don’t know when the war will end, but when it does, we must ensure that history does not repeat itself.”
Pointing to Russia’s past actions in Georgia and Ukraine, he added, “We cannot allow Russia to continue to undermine European security. We must break the cycle of Russian aggression.”
Biden met Tuesday in Warsaw with Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who last week claimed Moscow was behind a plan to overthrow her country’s government using external saboteurs.
Sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania and one of the poorest countries in Europe, the Eastern European country has historic ties to Russia but wants to join the 27-nation European Union. Biden in his speech approved Moldova’s bid to join the EU.
“I am proud to stand with you and the freedom-loving people of Moldova,” Biden said of Sandu and his country in a speech Tuesday.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago, Moldova, a former Soviet republic of about 2.6 million people, has sought closer ties with its Western partners. At the end of June, it was granted EU candidate status, on the same day as Ukraine.
Sandu spoke last week about Russia’s plan “to overthrow the constitutional order.” He spoke after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country had intercepted a Russian secret service plan to destroy Moldova. The claim was later confirmed by Moldovan intelligence officials.
Biden’s speech on the Ukraine war came a day after he made a surprise visit to Kyiv, in a gesture of solidarity with Ukraine. The address was part affirmation of Europe’s role in helping Ukraine repel the ongoing Russian invasion and part sharp warning to Putin that the US would not follow Moscow’s defeat of Ukraine.
The White House has praised several eastern countries, including Lithuania, Poland and Romania, over the past year for stepping up efforts to support Ukraine with arms and economic aid and to take in refugees.
Biden has paid special attention to Poland’s efforts. The country hosts about 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees and has provided $3.8 billion in military and economic aid to Kyiv.
“The truth about this is: the United States needs Poland and NATO just as NATO needs the United States,” Biden said during talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Learn how to navigate and strengthen trust in your business with The Trust Factor, a weekly newsletter that examines what leaders need to succeed. Log in here.