The speech, as White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a preview on Friday, “will address the current challenges, the urgent need for the challenge that lies ahead, and what the Ukraine conflict means to the world.” and why it is so important for the free world to maintain unity and determination in the face of Russian aggression. ” Biden’s days-long swing in Europe began in Brussels, where he discussed with key US allies the global response to the war. The journey is to be completed in a nation bordering Ukraine – where regional security issues and the ongoing humanitarian crisis are at the forefront. During emergency summits in Brussels, Biden announced new sanctions against members of the Russian parliament, revealed the US intention to accept 100,000 refugees who fled Ukraine, and consulted with leaders on how the world would react if Russia developed. chemical, biological or nuclear weapons during the war. . On Friday, Biden also announced a new initiative aimed at depriving Russian President Vladimir Putin of the European energy gains that Biden says are being used to spark a Russian war in Ukraine. And later that day, after arriving about 65 miles from Poland’s border with Ukraine, the President met with humanitarian workers to hear their accounts that they had helped alleviate the humanitarian crisis and members of the 82nd Airborne Division. Divisions, which have been deployed along the eastern edge of NATO to prevent possible Russian aggression. “What you are doing is much more than whether or not we can alleviate Ukraine’s suffering,” Biden told the military on Friday. “We are in a new phase, your generation. We are at a turning point,” he said. And he told the troops that their mission was not just to send a message to Russia. On the contrary, he said, they acted as a signal to all the authoritarians of the world. While Biden will meet with refugees in Warsaw, he said on Friday that he would prefer to see the crisis from an even closer perspective. “They will not let me – understandably, I guess – cross the border and take a look at what is happening in Ukraine,” he said. The White House said it did not investigate a visit to Ukraine. The visit to Ukraine’s western neighbor comes as Poland, on several fronts, has urged the United States to do more in the war. Duda, for example, called on the United States to speed up and simplify procedures that allow Ukrainians with families in the United States to come to the country. More than 3.5 million refugees have now fled Ukraine, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released on Tuesday. The vast majority of these refugees have taken refuge in Ukraine’s western neighbors throughout Europe. Poland, which borders Ukraine to the west, has recorded more than 2 million Ukrainian refugees crossing into the country, although not all of the refugees who have entered Poland remain there. In addition, the United States continued to reject Poland’s proposal to facilitate the transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. And the Polish President called for a more permanent NATO defense stance in the country along with an international peacekeeping force in Ukraine. US officials have not encouraged the peace offer, saying it could violate Biden’s red line to keep US troops away from the conflict. During a meeting with humanitarian workers on Friday, Duda said Biden’s presence “sends a great message and a sign of unity – unity within NATO”. The Polish President added that Biden’s visit “demonstrates the enormous support and also the great importance that the United States attaches to stability and world peace, to restoring peace where difficult situations occur in places where one resorts to aggression against other democrats and free “nations – as is the case today against Ukraine, where, unfortunately, the Russian aggression that has been going on for a month is having an effect.” CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Sam Fossum contributed to this report.
