WARSAW — President Joe Biden will give what he intends to be a major address here Saturday about the stakes for the world and the path ahead for a war in Ukraine that is only likely to intensify.
Ahead of the speech, Biden plans to meet with Ukrainian refugees who have flooded into Poland. In Warsaw, where Biden is set to deliver his speech, more than 300,000 refugees have arrived, with many seeking temporary shelter in a sports arena, and a steady flow continuing to come into the city’s train station each day.
“He will speak to the stakes of this moment, the urgency of the challenge that lies ahead, what the conflict in Ukraine means for the world, and why it is so important that the free world sustain unity and resolve in the face of Russian aggression,” said Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser.
March 25, 202202:14
The speech will cap three days in Europe, where Biden held what could be some of the most consequential meetings of his presidency with world leaders, seeking to solidify their unity behind a sustained pressure campaign against Russia.
As the war entered its second month, White House officials acknowledged they were preparing for what could be a long, increasingly brutal conflict and were aiming to use Biden’s meeting and his speech to lay the groundwork for the road ahead.
“This could go on for quite some time, and to sustain that unity as costs rise, as the tragedy unfolds, that’s hard work,” said Sullivan. “And the president wanted to get everyone together to say, we’ve got to do that work.”
The U.S. announced a series of steps this week to try to ratchet up pressure on Russia and assist Ukraine, including additional sanctions on more than 400 Russians and Russian entities, $1 billion in humanitarian assistance, plans to take in 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, and a task force to lessen European dependence on Russian natural gas.
But Biden acknowledged before leaving Brussels that his actions would do little to deter Putin in the near term. Rather, the president said he hoped that the sanctions being placed on Russia by the U.S. and Europe, if maintained and enforced, would ultimately pressure Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
“Sanctions never deter,” Biden said. “The maintenance of sanctions, the increasing the pain and the demonstration — why I asked for this NATO meeting today — is to be sure that, after a month, we will sustain what we’re doing — not just next month, the following month, but for the remainder of this entire year. That’s what will stop him.”
Poland has borne the brunt of the refugee crisis, with more than 2 million Ukrainians flooding into the country so far. While Poland has welcomed the refugees with open arms, allowing them to work and providing them with health care and schooling for children, the massive influx in just a few weeks has begun to strain cities like Warsaw, where the population is estimated to have grown by 300,000.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
