The president of the United States, Joe Bidenundertook this Wednesday the most important tour of his mandate, a trip to Europe that will define the course of the allied response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine as the war drags on.
Biden plans to land in Brussels at 8:50 p.m. (5:50 p.m. in Chile) on the eve of a marathon day in the European capital, where this Thursday he will participate in three summits – of NATO, the European Union (EU) and the G7- before flying on Friday to Poland, a country bordering Ukraine.
“I am on my way to Europe to bolster the international community’s support for Ukraine and ensure that Putin pays a serious economic price for the war he has chosen,” Biden tweeted shortly following taking off on Air Force One.
“A new world order”
Since his electoral campaign, Biden has drawn the international scene as a battle between democracies and autocracies, and has expressed his desire to strengthen the leadership of the United States in the first bloc, a role that has been weakened in the last two decades.
“There is going to be a new world order, and we have to be able to lead it. And we have to do it by uniting the rest of the free world,” Biden said in a meeting with business leaders on Monday, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
That is the mentality with which the president faces his third visit to Europe in less than a year, which coincides with the first month of war in Ukraine and forces the allies to consider how to respond to the prospect of a possible long conflict.
The objective of Biden’s trip is to “ensure that the unity” of the US and its allies is maintained, “consolidate” their position before Russia and guarantee that all of them are “committed to continue in this as long as it takes”, according to the president’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
And that time is expected to be long: Sullivan himself predicted this Tuesday, at a press conference, that the war in Ukraine “will not end easily or quickly.”
More sanctions
Given this perspective, Biden maintains his commitment to sanctions, and this Thursday he plans to announce restrictions once morest more than 300 members of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, according to The Wall Street Journal.
These and other possible sanctions are expected to be announced in conjunction with its European allies, with whom it will coincide at the extraordinary NATO summit and the subsequent ones of the EU and the G7, following which Biden will offer a press conference.
Although international sanctions have weakened the Russian economy, they have so far not persuaded President Vladimir Putin to stop his offensive in Ukraine, and they seem unlikely to do so in the short term, according to US forecasts.
As the war drags on, dilemmas for the United States and its allies are mounting: how far to go on sanctions once morest Russia and military aid to Ukraine, how to deal with the refugee crisis stemming from the Russian invasion, and how to protect the Eastern flank of NATO.
The United States has increased its troops in Europe to 100,000, but it also wants the old continent to assume more responsibility in its own defense so that, in the medium term, the White House can continue to focus on its competition with China.
Beijing’s reluctance to condemn the Russian invasion and fears it might provide support to Moscow will be the focus of some of the talks between Biden and his allies on Thursday ahead of the China-EU summit scheduled for April 1.
Biden will also announce more humanitarian aid and measures to “enhance European energy security and reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas,” though he will not pressure allies to veto fuel imports from Russia, Sullivan explained.
Support for refugees in Poland
On Friday, Biden will travel to Poland, a country bordering Ukraine where more than 2 million Ukrainian refugees have arrived since the war began.
His agenda on Friday is still unclear, prompting speculation, not confirmed by the White House, that he may approach the Ukrainian border and meet with refugees.
Sullivan did advance on Tuesday that the president will meet “US troops. who are helping to defend NATO territory,” as well as “experts involved in the humanitarian response.”
On Saturday, before flying back to Washington, Biden will meet in Warsaw with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, and then deliver a speech on “the united efforts of the free world to defend the people of Ukraine” and promote “an anchored world”. on democratic principles,” according to the White House.
The president will use this rhetoric to try to convince his allies that the United States can prevent the international order established in 1945 from completely breaking down.
“Having President Biden here in person, meeting with these leaders at this time, is absolutely crucial,” US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said Wednesday in a talk organized by the Atlantic Council think tank.
