US President Joe Biden surrounded by children on February 21, 2023 in Warsaw (AFP / Mandel NGAN)
US President Joe Biden meets with the group of nine leaders of the NATO countries of Central and Eastern Europe in Warsaw on Wednesday in the presence of the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance to assure them of Washington’s “unwavering” support to Moscow the day after one bellicose speech by Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Biden “will meet with leaders of the Bucharest Nine (B9), a group of NATO allies on our eastern flank, in the presence of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, to reaffirm the United States’ unwavering support for the security of the alliance.” ‘ the White House said in a statement.
This demonstration of support planned for the Presidential Palace in Warsaw aims to reassure these nine countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) whose common point is that they are former members of the Soviet Union or the Warsaw Pact and on the eastern flank of NATO.
It comes the day after a virulent speech by the Russian president, who vowed to “methodically” continue his offensive launched in Ukraine nearly a year ago and announced Russia’s withdrawal from the Russo-US New Beginning Nuclear Disarmament Treaty, commemorating the worst for hours of the Cold War.
Vladimir Putin during his annual address to the nation on February 21, 2023 in Moscow ( SPUTNIK / Mikhail METZEL )
Westerners want to “finish us once and for all,” Putin thundered, blaming Washington and its European allies for “responsibility for fueling the Ukrainian conflict and its victims.”
Mr. Biden replied to him in a speech in Warsaw the same day that “the West does not plan to attack Russia, as Putin has said”. “The millions of Russian citizens who only want to live in peace with their neighbors are not the enemy,” he added.
– “NATO will not be divided” –
US President Joe Biden in Warsaw on February 21, 2023 (AFP/Wojtek Radwanski)
But he warned, the day after a surprise visit to Kiev on Monday, during which he again promised Ukrainians arms, that US support for Ukraine “will not wane”.
“Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, never” and “stay free,” pounded the American President, speaking of “America’s iron will.”
Vladimir Putin “thought autocrats like himself were tough and democratic leaders were soft, then he encountered the iron will of America and nations around the world who, out of fear, refuse to accept a governed world,” he said.
“NATO will not be divided and we will not let go,” assured Mr. Biden, who is due to return to Washington on Wednesday evening.
On the same day, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, announced that EU member countries would draw on their stockpiles to speed up supplies of arms and ammunition to Ukraine.
Mr Putin made an impression by announcing the suspension of the New Start nuclear disarmament treaty and saying he was also ready to resume nuclear testing.
An announcement shortly thereafter toned down by his State Department, which reassured in a press release that “Russia intends to maintain a responsible approach and continue to strictly observe quantitative limits on strategic offensive arms throughout the life of the treaty.”
Vladimir Putin during his annual address to the nation on February 21, 2023 in Moscow ( SPUTNIK / Sergei SAVOSTIJANOV )
Signed in 2010, this treaty is the last bilateral agreement of its kind, binding Russians and Americans and aiming to limit their nuclear arsenals. Moscow had already announced in early August that it would suspend planned inspections of its military sites.
Mr Putin also called on Russian forces to “stand ready to conduct nuclear weapons tests” if the United States were to do so first.
A world without nuclear arms control is “much more dangerous,” said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
During Putin’s speech, Russian forces shelled buildings in Kherson, southern Ukraine, killing at least five civilians, according to Ukrainian authorities.