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 upset the West’s resolve to defend democracies around the world.
He warned that there were “difficult and bitter days ahead,” but promised that the United States and its allies would “withdraw Ukraine” as the war enters its second year.
“The democracies of the world will preserve freedom today, tomorrow and forever,” he said at the Royal Palace, a historic landmark in Warsaw, before a cheering crowd of Polish citizens and Ukrainian refugees.
Biden’s speech came a day after a daring and unannounced trip to Kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Kyiv remains strong,” Biden said. “Kyiv is proud.”
Before his speech, Biden met with Polish President Andrzej Duda as he began a series of consultations with allies to prepare for the more complicated stages of the Russian invasion.
“We must have security in Europe,” Biden said at the presidential palace in Warsaw. “It is basic, simple, consequential.”
He described NATO as “Perhaps the most consequential alliance in history,” and said it is “stronger than ever” despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hopes that it will be broken through the war in Ukraine.
Earlier on Tuesday, Putin announced that Moscow would suspend its participation in the final nuclear arms control pact with the United States.
The so-called New START Treaty caps the number of long-range nuclear warheads that can be deployed and limits the use of missiles capable of carrying atomic weapons.
Biden reached out to Putin during his speech, but did not mention the START delay.
Duda, in a meeting with Biden, praised the American president’s unannounced visit to Kyiv as “spectacular,” saying it “raised the spirits of the defenders of Ukraine.”
He said the visit was “a sign that the world is free, and that its greatest leader, the president of the United States, is in front of it.”
On Wednesday, Biden plans to meet again with Duda along with other leaders of the Bucharest Nine, a group of easternmost members of the NATO military alliance.
The conflict in Ukraine – Europe’s most important war since World War II – has left tens of thousands dead, destroyed Ukraine’s infrastructure system and crippled the global economy.
While Biden sought to use his whirlwind trip to Europe as a moment of affirmation for Ukraine and its allies, the White House also stressed that there is no clear end to the war in the near term, and that the situation on the ground is escalating. complex.
The government on Sunday announced it had new intelligence suggesting that China, which remains on the sidelines of the conflict, is now considering sending help to kill Moscow. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it could be a “serious problem” if Beijing followed suit.
Biden and Zelenskyy discussed the capabilities Ukraine needs “to be successful on the battlefield” next month, Sullivan said. Zelenskyy has been pushing US and European allies to provide fighter jets and a long-range missile system known as ATACMS – which Biden has so far not provided. Sullivan declined to comment on whether there was any movement on the matter during the leaders’ discussions.
With no end to the war, the anniversary is a critical moment for Biden to try to strengthen European unity and declare that Putin’s invasion is a frontal attack on the post-World War II international order. The White House hopes the president’s visits to Kyiv and Warsaw will help support American and global decisions.
In the US, a poll published last week by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed that support for providing arms and direct economic aid to Ukraine is weakening. And earlier this month, 11 House Republicans introduced what they called a “Ukraine exhaustion” resolution that called on Biden to end military and financial aid to Ukraine, while pushing Ukraine and Russia toward a peace agreement.
Biden denied any notion of a drop in American support during his visit to Kyiv.
“For all the disagreements in Congress on some issues, there is an important agreement on support for Ukraine,” Biden said while in Kyiv. He described the conflict as “about democratic freedom in general.”
Ahead of the trip, the White House highlighted Poland’s efforts to help Ukraine. More than 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees have lived in Poland since the beginning of the war and millions more have crossed through Poland on their way to other countries. Poland also provided $3.8 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, according to the White House.
The Biden administration announced last summer that it would establish a permanent US garrison in Poland, establishing an American foothold on NATO’s eastern flank.
“The truth about this is that the United States needs Poland and NATO just as much as NATO needs the United States,” Biden told Duda on Tuesday.
Miller and Megerian reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Evan Vucci in Kyiv and Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report.