Biden’s visit aims to support Ukrainian refugees in Poland
US President Joe Biden said that NATO would “respond” if Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine, without specifying the nature of the response.
The US president succeeded in demonstrating unity among many Western leaders in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine during three summits in which he participated in Brussels on Thursday, but the practical results of successive meetings seemed limited, a month after the start of the invasion.
During his meeting with the President of the European Council Charles Michel Biden stressed that “the most important thing that we should do in the West is unity.” And he warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “betting on the division” of NATO.
In response to a reporter’s question about the continued bombing of Ukraine despite the financial sanctions on Russia, Biden said, “I did not actually say that sanctions will deter (Putin). Sanctions do not deter,” saying that the sanctions are aimed at countering the Russian invasion, but rather to “increase the suffering” of the regime. Putin.
The joint statement issued by Biden and 27 European leaders stated that the meeting “reviewed their continued efforts to impose economic costs on Russia and Belarus, and their willingness to adopt additional measures and stop any attempts to circumvent the sanctions.”
The practical discussion in Brussels has focused more on preventing Moscow from finding a way around previous sanctions, and not being dragged into the conflict as a “warring party”, in the words of French President Emmanuel Macron.
Western countries will work to deploy NATO combat groups in countries in eastern Europe, to prevent the war from spreading outside Ukraine, without interfering in the conflict at home.
For its part, Russia denied Friday that it had violated international law after Ukraine accused it of using phosphorous bombs as part of its military intervention in the neighboring country.
“Russia has not violated any international agreement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said after being asked by a journalist about Ukrainian accusations that Moscow had used phosphorous bombs in Ukraine.
Phosphorous bombs are incendiary weapons that are prohibited from being used against civilians, but are not prohibited against military targets, according to an agreement signed in 1980 in Geneva.
Biden’s European Tour
On Friday, Biden will visit the Polish town of “Jyszow”, eighty kilometers from the Ukrainian border, with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda. The US president pledged $1 billion in humanitarian aid to those caught up in the conflict.
Poland has taken in more than two million people fleeing Ukraine, far more than any other country.
Biden will inspect the American soldiers stationed in the region, among the more than 100,000 American soldiers currently deployed in Europe.
Then he will head to Warsaw, where he will deliver a speech “on the united efforts of the free world to support the Ukrainian people” and “hold Russia to account for its brutal war,” according to the White House.
picture released, Ukraine Presidential Office
Zelensky addresses the European Council
In Ukraine, the situation is deteriorating further in the devastated city of Mariupol as a result of Russian bombing, as Ukrainians accuse the Russians of “mass” deportation of thousands of city residents to Russia.
Last night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the European Council summit in Brussels, and spoke about the devastation and damage caused by Russia to his country.
The month-long Russian offensive resulted in the killing of thousands of Ukrainians, including 121 children, the displacement of 6.5 million and the destruction of more than 4,300 homes, according to the latest report by Zelensky.
Zelensky thanked European countries for uniting in their support for Ukraine, but noted that European leaders “acted too late” to stop Russia.
“You imposed sanctions, we are grateful to you. These are strong steps. But it was a little late. There was an opportunity,” he added, adding that if they were preventive sanctions, Russia might not have launched that war.
He also referred to the closure of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, saying that if it had been banned before, “Russia would not have created a gas crisis.”
He urged Zelensky to accept Ukraine’s application to join the European Union, saying, “Now I ask you – do not delay.”
The United States and its allies imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
These countries also warned Moscow that the costs incurred would increase as the war extended.
But NATO has repeatedly ruled out imposing a no-fly zone in Ukraine, and has said it will not send troops there, for fear of Russia escalating and expanding the conflict.
NATO affirmed Kyiv’s right to self-defense, and promised to continue supplying it with weapons.
Kyiv asked the European Union on Friday to close its borders with Russia and Belarus, Moscow’s ally in the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine a month ago.
“The ministry proposes to the European Union to completely cut off land and sea links with Russia and Belarus,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure said in a statement, considering that these “measures are necessary to stop the supply of the aggressor country with goods that may be used for military purposes.”
picture released, EPA
Demonstration against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the BBC he was not optimistic that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted peace in Ukraine.
“I think he decided to redouble his efforts, and try to deal with the big cities in Ukraine like Grozny,” Johnson added, referring to the Chechen city of Grozny that Russia bombed and besieged in 1999-2000.
‘Stupid penalties’
On the other hand, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev denounced the Western sanctions imposed on his country as “stupid”.
He told a state-owned news agency that the measures imposed since the invasion of Ukraine had only strengthened support for the Russian government.
He added that history had shown that limitations and hardship had the effect of uniting the Russian people, not dividing them.
Western sanctions have undermined the value of the Russian currency (the ruble), caused significant job losses, and largely shut down the Moscow Stock Exchange.