Biden to meet with NATO allies over Putin’s nuclear threats
2023.02.22 10:57
Biden to meet with NATO allies over Putin’s nuclear threats
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – After Moscow suspended a significant nuclear arms control treaty, U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with leaders of NATO’s eastern flank on Wednesday to show support for their security.
After a surprise visit to Kiev just a few days before the 24th anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Biden made his way to Warsaw late on Monday.
Biden told thousands of people in downtown Warsaw on Tuesday that “autocrats” like Russian President Vladimir Putin must be opposed during the period of highest tension between Russia and the West since the Cold War.
A few hours earlier, Putin gave lengthy remarks in which he blamed Western powers for the war in Ukraine. Additionally, Putin warned that Moscow could resume nuclear tests and withdrew from the New START arms control treaty, a 2010 agreement limiting the number of strategic nuclear warheads deployed by the United States and Russia.
Before meeting with leaders of the Bucharest Nine, Biden will meet with staff from the U.S. embassy in Warsaw on Wednesday. The Bucharest Nine are the countries on NATO’s eastern flank, including Poland, Bulgaria, and Lithuania, who joined the Western military alliance after Moscow was in control during the Cold War.
The majority of them are staunch supporters of providing military assistance to Ukraine, and representatives of the group’s member nations have called for additional resources like air defense systems.
Prior to his return to Washington, Biden plans to discuss support for Ukraine and reaffirm commitments regarding their security at the meeting.
Russia sees NATO as an existential threat because it could soon include Sweden and Finland.
Gitanas Nauseda, the president of Lithuania, will convey to Biden that his country wants the United States to be more involved in Europe, NATO’s eastern flank, and more weapons sent to Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Nauseda posted a tweet that read, “Let’s give Ukraine all the weapons it needs to defeat the aggressor.”
“Let’s keep improving our own defenses. We must continue to focus on the eastern NATO flank. There should be no soft spots.”
The neighboring former Soviet republic, which joined NATO in 2004, plans to host Biden for the security alliance’s summit in July.
Not all of the Bucharest Nine have been as eager to assist Ukraine, particularly Hungary, which has resisted EU sanctions against Russia and is the only NATO member that has not ratified Sweden and Finland’s accession, along with Turkey.
Peter Szijjarto, the foreign minister of Hungary, called for a ceasefire and peace talks with Ukraine to stop the war from getting any worse and turning into a larger conflict. This is in contrast to calls for Ukrainian victory that come from many of its neighbors.
Szijjarto stated at a Budapest news conference, “Having seen and listened to the speeches by the presidents of the United States and Russia yesterday, I think they would have made humanity a much bigger service by talking to each other.”
Petr Fiala, the prime minister of the Czech Republic, emphasized the significance of assisting Ukraine before departing for Warsaw for the meeting on Wednesday.
Fiala stated, “The Ukrainians are fighting extremely bravely.”
He stated, “But they cannot do it without our help, and they cannot do it without the help of big, powerful countries that have the means and the ability to do it.” He was referring to both of these countries.
