Watch Live: Biden speaks in Poland to mark one year of Russia’s war on Ukraine

FAN Editor

President Biden is addressing the world Tuesday from the gardens of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland, ahead of the one-year mark of Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He is delivering his speech after meetings with Polish President Andrzej Duda, and a day after he made a surprise visit to Kyiv

The U.S. president was greeted by thousands of onlookers waving Polish, U.S. and Ukrainian flags, less than one year after Mr. Biden last addressed the Polish people from that same spot after Russia’s assault began. 

“One year ago, the world was bracing for the fall of Kyiv. Well, I’ve just come from a visit to Kyiv, and I can report, Kyiv stands strong. Kyiv stands proud. It stands tall. And most important, it stands free,” Mr. Biden said to applause. 

“When Russia invaded, it wasn’t just Ukraine being tested,” he continued. “The whole world faced the test for the ages. Europe was being tested. America was being tested. NATO was being tested. All democracies were being tested. And the questions we faced were as simple as they were profound. Would we respond or would we look the other way? Would we be strong or would we be weak? Would we, all of our allies, be united or divided? One year later, we know the answer. We did respond, we would be strong, we would be united, and the world would not look the other way.” 

The world is seeing once again what the people of Poland and Europe saw for decades, Mr. Biden said: “Appetites of the autocrat cannot be appeased. They must be opposed.”

Poland US Biden
President Biden delivers a speech at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland, on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Michal Dyjuk / AP

Ahead of Mr. Biden’s speech, Duda took the podium to stand in solidarity with Ukraine, saying, “Long live free Ukraine, long live the alliance of the Republic of Poland with the United States.” 

“I believe that this brutal Russian assertiveness will be punished and crushed in Ukraine,” Duda said through a translator. “That Russia will have to leave Ukrainian land with shame, the land which it is occupying, that Ukraine will win, that the defenders of Ukraine will prevail. That this spilled blood, that this horrible sacrifice which is being paid by the Ukrainian nation, will bear fruits of a grand victory.” 

In their meeting earlier Tuesday, Duda thanked Mr. Biden for visiting Ukraine, saying it sent a very strong message. In turn, the U.S. president thanked Duda and Poland for all the work they have done to promote security in the region and for accepting Ukrainian refugees. 

“The truth of the matter is: The United States needs Poland and NATO as much as NATO needs the United States, because there is no way in which — for our ability to operate anywhere else in the world, and our responsibilities extend beyond Europe, we have to have security in Europe,” Mr. Biden said during their meeting. “It’s that basic, that simple, that consequential. And so, it’s the single-most consequential alliance, and I would argue maybe the most consequential alliance in history, that — not just modern history, but in history.”

Mr. Biden has made rallying allies to the cause of Ukraine a central component of his approach to foreign policy, insisting it isn’t just about the future of Ukraine, but the future of democracy and the world. 

Mr. Biden on Monday said more sanctions would be coming, though Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, in a phone call with reporters, declined to give details ahead of a formal announcement. 

In his speech, the president is expected to recap how the U.S. has supported Ukraine and rallied European allies to the cause, as well as what the U.S. has done so far to sanction Moscow. Adeyemo said Mr. Biden will talk about how the U.S. is making it harder for Russia to conduct the war, both by isolating Moscow economically and making it tougher for President Vladimir Putin’s regime to fund its military operations. 

Adeyemo said Russia had lost about 9,000 pieces of equipment on the battlefield and struggled to find money to replace the equipment. Going forward, the U.S. will continue its cooperation with allies as it sanctions Russia and increase pressure on companies doing business with Moscow. 

Mr. Biden’s trip to Kyiv was held closely, with the president accompanied only by his closest aides, his security detail and two journalists. More of the president’s aides met up with him once he reached Poland on Monday evening, after the Kyiv stop. 

Mr. Biden spent about six hours in Kyiv, much of it with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom he promised unwavering support and another tranche of American military aid.  

White House aides stressed that the trip to Kyiv was still a risky one despite months of planning, noting that, unlike other war zones that past U.S. presidents have visited, the U.S. lacks a military presence in Ukraine. Mr. Biden, those aides told reporters, made the final decision to travel on Friday. 

National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Monday that the U.S. notified Russia of Mr. Biden’s trip to Ukraine some hours ahead of the president’s departure, for “deconfliction purposes.”

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