The Russian military has been invading Ukraine for about a month now. US President Joe Biden has added a visit to Poland to his trip to Europe this week. It is for urgent discussions with NATO and European partners.
Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, provided a statement on Sunday night. Biden will go to Brussels first, then to Poland to meet with officials.
Poland is an important ally in the Ukraine crisis.
Thousands of American troops are stationed there, and it has taken in over 2 million refugees fleeing Ukraine’s conflict. It is more than any other nation in Europe’s greatest refugee crisis in decades.
Biden will travel to Warsaw on Saturday for a bilateral meeting with President Andrzej Duda. Biden will speak about how the US is reacting to “the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created,” Psaki said.
Prior to his trip, Biden will meet with European leaders on Monday to discuss the conflict.
President Emmanuel Macron of France, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are all expected to attend, according to the White House.
According to White House sources, Biden has no plans to visit Ukraine.
“High risk”
While in Poland earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken swiftly traveled to Ukraine to express his sympathies with Dmytro Kuleba, the country’s foreign minister.
Poland has been one of the most vocal in its call for fellow NATO countries to consider raising their participation to limit the bloodshed.
The invasion of Ukraine by Putin has united the US, NATO, and European allies, and partners in Asia and elsewhere. Moscow’s military aggression is likewise perceptible as a danger to the US and European nations’ security and geopolitical interests.
The US and NATO will supply weapons and other defensive support to non-NATO member Ukraine. However, Biden and NATO have stated repeatedly that they are adamant to prevent any escalation on Kyiv’s behalf that may lead to a larger confrontation with Russia.
On March 9, the Pentagon rejected a Polish proposal to supply Ukraine with MiG fighter jets via a NATO airbase. Thereby, stating that allied efforts against the Russian invasion should focus on more useful weaponry. The MiG transfer with a US and NATO connection would also have a “high risk” of escalating the war.