President Joe Biden has told a cheering Warsaw audience that Vladimir Putin’s “craven lust for land and power will fail” and that US support for Ukraine and its European Nato partners is “rock solid”.
Marking the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion, Mr Biden promised consequences for Russian forces who had committed war crimes “without shame or compunction”.
A day after his surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital, Mr Biden said he had seen first-hand that Kyiv “still stands strong, proud... and, most important, stands free”.
Nearly a year after his last speech at Warsaw’s rebuilt royal palace, Mr Biden said Vladimir Putin’s efforts to undermine democracies and fracture Nato had failed, as had its campaigns to weaponise food and energy.
“Appetites of autocrats cannot be appeased, they must be opposed, they only understand one word: ‘No, no, no’,” he said, promising further support for Moldova and the Belarusian opposition.
Turning to the Russian people, Mr Biden insisted that war was “never a necessity but a tragedy”, that no one was threatening them or their country, but that it was their president who “chose this war”.
“Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, never,” he said. “Every day this war continues is his choice, if Russia stopped invading Ukraine, it would end the war. If Ukraine stopped defending itself against Russia, it would be the end of Ukraine.”
As the conflict enters its second year, Poland has become an indispensable partner – for Ukraine and Nato. Polish military bases and rail connections in its southwestern regions – Nato’s eastern flank – have become crucial for moving in western military equipment, and moving troops out for training.
Given Poland’s long history of aggressive neighbours, and abandonment by western allies, Polish president Andrzej Duda welcomed Mr Biden’s second visit as a “crucially important sign to us, a sign of security”.
“We believe that America is able to guard the global order,” he said, “and to show all the aggressors who want to destroy other people’s lives... that there is no acceptance of the democratic community – as represented by the US – to such behaviour.”
After bilateral talks the two leaders announced a new strategic partnership to build nuclear power plants to bolster Poland’s energy security.
Poland has provided nearly €2 billion in military aid to Ukraine but the US president said it was “incredible” how the country had offered a new home to up to 1.7 million Ukrainians.
In total, Poland has registered 9.96 million people crossing from Ukraine, most of whom have travelled on to third countries. However, traffic on the crossings remains busy. On Monday, about 20,300 Ukrainians arrived into Poland, the border agency said, while 19,100 Ukrainians had travelled into Ukraine during the same time.
A recent poll showed that 78 per cent of Poles are still in favour of accepting people fleeing the war in Ukraine.
