US President Joe Biden has received praise for uniting the NATO alliance and many other countries in condemning Russia and supporting Ukraine. The White House has announced that Biden will be traveling to Brussels next week to attend the European Union and NATO summits.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that Biden will be traveling to Brussels next week to attend the EU and NATO summits. Biden will be meeting his counterparts from the other NATO member countries during the conference on March 24. The US leader will also be attending a scheduled EU summit on the same day to discuss further sanctions on Russia for its offensive on Ukraine.
“While he’s 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’ve been incredibly aligned to date,” said Psaki.
“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,” Psaki added, noting that the US leader will use the upcoming events as an opportunity to reaffirm Washington’s commitment to its NATO allies.
Biden has brought together Europe, Canada, and other allies in imposing sanctions on Russia, targeting its economy, oil, gas, technology, and Russia’s oligarchs, their family members, and political and military officials from both Russia and Belarus, which has backed the invasion. Canada and the US announced an additional set of sanctions on Russia Tuesday.
Biden announced Wednesday that the US will be sending an additional $800 million in military aid to Ukraine following President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to Congress urging Washington to do more to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia. Biden watched the address from his private library, praising the Ukrainian leader’s remarks.
The additional military support includes 800 anti-aircraft systems, 9,000 anti-armor systems, 7,000 small arms such as shotguns and grenade launchers, and drones and other military equipment. Biden also went further in his remarks about Putin, calling the Russian dictator a “war criminal” as he was leaving an event at the White House.