President Biden to visit Europe for NATO summit on Ukraine
| Washington
President Joe Biden will travel to Europe next week for face-to-face talks with European leaders about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Tuesday.
Mr. Biden will meet with European leaders at an extraordinary NATO summit in Brussels on March 24. He will also attend a scheduled European Council summit, where efforts to impose sanctions and further humanitarian efforts are underway.
鈥淲hile he鈥檚 there, his goal is to meet in person face-to-face with his European counterparts and talk about, assess where we are at this point in the conflict in the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. We鈥檝e been incredibly aligned to date,鈥� Ms. Psaki said. 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 happen by accident. The president is a big believer in face-to-face diplomacy. So it鈥檚 an opportunity to do exactly that.鈥�
The White House announced the president鈥檚 travel shortly before Mr. Biden on Tuesday signed a bill providing $13.6 billion in additional military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine as part of a $1.5 trillion government spending measure.
Mr. Biden said at the bill signing ceremony that the United States was 鈥渕oving urgently to further augment the support to the brave people of Ukraine, as they defend their country.鈥�
The trip follows Vice President Kamala Harris鈥� visit to eastern flank NATO countries of Poland and Romania last week to discuss with leaders the growing refugee crisis in eastern Europe sparked by the Russian invasion and to underscore the Biden administration鈥檚 support for NATO allies.
Poland鈥檚 foreign minister Zbigniew Rau said Tuesday that a visit by Mr. Biden to Poland was 鈥渧ery probable鈥� when he comes to Europe. More than 1.8 million Ukrainians have fled to Poland since the start of the war, according to the United Nations. More than 3 million people have fled Ukraine since Russian launched its invasion.
鈥淚t would be hard to imagine a better place for the United States and for the entire alliance to stress their position than the brightest link on the eastern flank, that Poland is,鈥� Mr. Rau told Polish state TVP INFO.
Ms. Psaki said she did not have additional details about whether Mr. Biden would visit Poland during the trip.
The White House鈥檚 announcement of Mr. Biden鈥檚 visit to Brussels came on the same day that leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia set out for Kyiv by train despite the security risks to show their support for Ukraine. It was a visit EU officials said was not sanctioned by other members of the 27-nation bloc.
Daniel Hamilton, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for European affairs, said Mr. Biden鈥檚 trip to Europe comes as the White House looks to continue to maintain what鈥檚 been a largely unified western opposition to Russia since the invasion.
鈥淎s the war continues, it鈥檚 important that the president show he is not sitting comfortably across the Atlantic, but that he is part of the coalition meeting with European colleagues in Europe and that the United States is a European power,鈥� said Mr. Hamilton, non-resident fellow at Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.
This story was reported by The Associated Press.聽AP writers Monika Scislowska and Tracy Brown contributed reporting.
Editor鈥檚 note: Check out the Monitor鈥檚 comprehensive Ukraine coverage from correspondents in Ukraine, Europe, the United States, and beyond on our Ukraine page.
