President Joe Biden, returning on Tuesday to the Polish castle where he spoke shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, said the war had hardened Western resolve to defend democracy around the globe.
"Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia," Biden declared.
What You Need To Know
- President Joe Biden, returning on Tuesday to the Polish castle where he spoke shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, said the war had hardened Western resolve to defend democracy
- He warned that there were “hard and bitter days ahead,” but pledged that the United States and its allies would “have Ukraine’s back” as the war enters its second year
- After making a surprise visit to Kyiv, Biden is working to solidify Western unity as Ukraine and Russia are preparing spring offensives
- The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead, devastated Ukraine's infrastructure system and wreaked havoc on the global economy
He warned that there were “hard and bitter days ahead,” but pledged that the United States and its allies would “have Ukraine’s back” as the war enters its second year.
“Democracies of the world will stand guard over freedom today, tomorrow and forever," he said at the Royal Castle, a historical landmark in Warsaw, before a cheering crowd of Polish citizens and Ukrainian refugees. About 30,000 people gathered to hear Biden speak Tuesday evening, according to the city's mayor.
"There should be no doubt: Our support for Ukraine will not waver, NATO will not be divided and we will not tire," Biden pledged. "President Putin's craven lust for land and power will fail, and the Ukrainian people's love for their country will prevail."
After the speech, the president posed for pictures with children in the crowd holding Polish, Ukrainian and U.S. flags.
Ukraine is "steeled" for the fight ahead, he added, but so are Western countries and the NATO alliance, repeating the NATO promise: an attack on one is an attack on all.
"Russia knows it as well," the president said.
Biden's speech came one day after his daring, unannounced trip to Kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Kyiv stands strong,” Biden declared. “Kyiv stands proud. It stands tall, and, most importantly, stands free."
Before his speech, Biden met with Polish President Andrzej Duda as he began a series of consultations with allies to prepare for an even more complicated stage of Russia’s invasion.
“We have to have security in Europe,” Biden said at the presidential palace in Warsaw. “It's that basic, that simple, that consequential.”
He described NATO as “maybe the most consequential alliance in history," and he said it's “stronger than it's ever been” despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's hopes that it would fracture over the war in Ukraine.
Earlier Tuesday, Putin announced that Moscow would suspend its participation in the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the United States.
The so-called New START Treaty caps the number of long-range nuclear warheads they can deploy and limits the use of missiles that can carry atomic weapons.
Biden laid into Putin throughout speech, but did not mention the START suspension.
The Russian leader, Biden said, "thought we would roll over. He was wrong."
"The Ukrainian people are too brave. America, Europe, a coalition of nations from the Atlantic to the Pacific, we were too unified," he said. "Democracy was too strong. Instead of an easy victory he perceived and predicted, Putin left with burnt out tanks and Russia's forces in disarray."
"He thought NATO would fracture and divide," Biden added. "Instead, NATO is more united and more unified more than ever before. He thought that he could weaponize energy, crack Europe's resolve, and instead, we are working to end Europe's dependence from Russian fossil fuels."
Duda, in his meeting with Biden, praised the American president's unannounced visit to Kyiv as “spectacular,” saying it “boosted morale of Ukraine's defenders."
He said the visit was “a sign that the free world, and its biggest leader, the president of the United States, stands by them.”
On Wednesday, Biden plans to meet again with Duda along with other leaders of the Bucharest Nine, a group of the easternmost members of NATO military alliance.
The conflict in Ukraine — the most significant war in Europe since World War II — has already left tens of thousands of people dead, devastated Ukraine’s infrastructure system and damaged the global economy.
While Biden is looking to use his whirlwind trip to Europe as a moment of affirmation for Ukraine and allies, the White House has also emphasized that there is no clear endgame to the war in the near term, and the situation on the ground has become increasingly complex.
The administration on Sunday revealed it has new intelligence suggesting that China, which has remained on the sidelines of the conflict, is now considering sending Moscow lethal aid. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it could become a “serious problem” if Beijing follows through.
Biden and Zelenskyy discussed capabilities that Ukraine needs “to be able to succeed on the battlefield” in the months ahead, Sullivan said. Zelenskyy has been pushing the U.S. and European allies to provide fighter jets and long-range missile systems known as ATACMS — which Biden has declined to provide so far. Sullivan declined to comment on whether there was any movement on the matter during the leaders' talk.
With no end in sight for the war, the anniversary is a critical moment for Biden to try to bolster European unity and reiterate that Putin's invasion was a frontal attack on the post-World War II international order.
Biden on Tuesday said freedom was the paramount guiding principle for democracies. He called Russia’s invasion into Ukraine a “test for the ages" for Europe, the United States and countries with similar values.
“Would we stand up for the sovereignty of nations?” he posed.
“One year later, we know the answers. Yes, we would stand up for sovereignty, and we did. Yes, we would stand up for the right of people to live free from aggression, and we did.”
“We will keep standing up for these same things,” Biden added.
The White House hopes the president's visit to Kyiv and Warsaw will help bolster American and global resolve.
In the U.S., a poll published last week by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that support for providing Ukraine with weapons and direct economic assistance is softening. And earlier this month, 11 House Republicans introduced what they called the “Ukraine fatigue” resolution urging Biden to end military and financial aid to Ukraine, while pushing Ukraine and Russia to come to a peace agreement.
Biden dismissed the notion of waning American support during his visit to Kyiv.
“For all the disagreement we have in our Congress on some issues, there is significant agreement on support for Ukraine,” Biden said while in Kyiv. He described the conflict as "about freedom of democracy at large.”
Ahead of the trip, the White House spotlighted Poland's efforts to assist Ukraine. More than 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees have settled in Poland since the start of the war and millions more have crossed through Poland on their way to other countries. Poland has also provided Ukraine with $3.8 billion in military and humanitarian aid, according to the White House.
The Biden administration announced last summer that it was establishing a permanent U.S. garrison in Poland, creating an enduring American foothold on NATO's eastern flank.
“The truth of the matter is the United States needs Poland and NATO as much as NATO needs the United States,” Biden told Duda on Tuesday.