President Biden will travel to Europe next week to meet with allies to discuss the West’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and their joint efforts to impose severe penalties on Moscow for its actions, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
During a White House press briefing, Psaki stated that the president will attend an extraordinary NATO summit on March 24 at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels with leaders from the alliance’s 30 member countries “to discuss ongoing deterrence and defence efforts in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine, as well as to reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our NATO allies.”
Mr. Biden will also attend a European Council summit on March 24 and 25 “to discuss our shared concerns about Ukraine, including transatlantic efforts to impose economic costs on Russia, provide humanitarian assistance to those affected by the violence, and address other challenges related to the conflict,” according to Psaki.
“His goal is to meet in person, face-to-face with his European counterparts and talk about and assess where we are at this point in the conflict, in the invasion of Ukraine by Russia,” she said. “We’ve been incredibly aligned to date. That doesn’t happen by accident. The president is a big believer in face-to-face diplomacy, so it’s an opportunity to do exactly that.”
In reaction to the White House’s announcement of Mr. Biden’s impending travel to Europe, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that “transatlantic solidarity and cooperation remain critical for stepping up pressure on the Kremlin to end the unlawful conflict.”
Mr. Biden’s travel to Europe will be his first since Russia launched its war on Ukraine more than two weeks ago, and it follows Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Poland and Romania last week.
Following Russia’s invasion, the Biden administration collaborated with European partners to impose broad economic penalties on important Russian financial institutions, politicians, and billionaires in order to isolate Moscow from the global economy. The United States and the rest of the world have also given Ukraine more than $1 billion in military and humanitarian aid to help it defend itself against Russia.
Congress enacted a federal spending measure last week that included $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine, which Mr. Biden signed into law on Tuesday afternoon. According to the president, the United States is “working immediately to further bolster assistance to the heroic people of Ukraine as they defend their homeland.” He believes that the humanitarian aid authorised by Congress will better position the United States to address the needs of the Ukrainian people.
“With billions more included in this package for fresh humanitarian aid, we’ll be able to immediately scale up our response and help alleviate the suffering caused by Putin’s attack on the Ukrainian people in the region,” he continued.
