Newsman: President Biden promised that Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia. President Joe Biden addressed the world on Tuesday from Warsaw, Poland, just days ahead of the one-year mark of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking from Warsaw, Poland, Biden boasted of how the west had responded to the aggression from Moscow and said leaders must continue to stand up for freedom and democracy.
“When Russia invaded, it wasn’t just Ukraine being tested. The whole world faced a test for the ages. Europe was being tested,” Biden said from the gardens of the Royal Castle.
“There should be no doubt. Our support for Ukraine will not waver. NATO will not be divided. And we will not tire,” he added.
The speech came just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his own address in Moscow — though the White House insisted the timing was coincidental.
“The west was not plotting to attack Russia, as Putin said today, and millions of Russian citizens only want to live in peace with their neighbors are not the enemy,” Biden said. “This war was never a necessity. It’s a tragedy. President Putin chose this war. Every day the war continues is his choice. “
Biden also accused Russia of committing “crimes against humanity, without shame or compunction.”
“They’ve targeted civilians with death and destruction; used rape as a weapon of war,” he said.
“Stolen Ukrainian children in an attempt to steal Ukraine’s future. Bombed train stations, maternity hospitals, schools and orphanages. No one, no one can turn away their eyes from the atrocities Russia is committing against the Ukrainian people.”
What’s at stake, Biden said, is “freedom.” He cast the war as a battle between democracy and autocracy.
“One year ago, the world was bracing for the fall of Kyiv,” Biden said in front of the Polish Presidential Palace and a crowd of thousands. “Well, I have just come from a visit to Kyiv, and I can report that Kyiv stands strong. Kyiv stands proud. It stands tall. And most importantly, it stands free.”
“When President Putin ordered his tanks to roll in Ukraine he thought we would roll over. He was wrong. The Ukrainian people are too brave. America, Europe, a coalition of nations for the Atlantic to the Pacific, we were too unified. Democracy was too strong,” Biden said, blasting the Russian president by name.
“President Putin is confronted with something today that he didn’t think was possible a year ago,” he continued. “The democracies of the world have grown stronger, not weaker, but the autocrats of the world have grown weaker, and not stronger — because in the moments of great upheaval and uncertainty, knowing what you stand for is most important, and knowing who stands with you makes all of the difference.”
He spoke directly to citizens of Belarus and Moldova, expressing support for their fight for democracy, and called for opposition against autocracies.
“Appetites of the autocrat cannot be appeased. They must be opposed. Autocrats only understand one word: ‘no, no, no’,” Biden said. “‘No, you will not take my country. No, you will not take my freedom. No, you will not take my future.’
In Warsaw, Biden met earlier with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday to discuss cooperation between Washington and Warsaw to aid Kyiv, particularly over Poland’s role as a key staging ground for military and financial aid flowing to Ukraine. Duda publicly thanked Biden for visiting Ukraine.
The one-year mark of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine falls on Friday.
Biden’s speech comes hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed Russia’s parliament, announcing the country would stop participating in the New START nuclear arms treaty with the U.S., the last remaining major arms control agreement between the two countries.
