Biden: 'Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia'

U.S. President Joe Biden mentioned Russian President Vladimir Putin 11 times in a statement he made on Tuesday (local time) ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. president also emphasized that Ukraine would never be a victory for Russia. He also announced that the U.S. would accelerate its support for Ukraine despite nuclear threats made by President Putin, who also made a statement on the same day. As tensions between the U.S. and Russian leaders escalate, there are concerns about a new Cold War in the international community.

“President Putin’s craven lust for land and power will fail,” President Biden said in a speech in the garden of the Royal Castle in Warsaw in Poland. “He thought NATO would fracture and divide. Instead, NATO is more united and more unified than ever — than ever before. Democracies of the world will stand guard over freedom today, tomorrow, and forever,” he said.

President Biden also said that he would host every member of NATO for the 2024 summit in the U.S. This is meant to maintain an alliance against Russia with NATO in the center until next year.

“We’re going to announce more sanctions this week together with our partners,” he said. “We will seek justice for the war crimes and crimes against humanity.” On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Treasury Department would announce new sanctions against 200 people and entities, including Russian governors, high-ranking government officials, and their families, and national defense-related companies.

President Putin said in his speech on the same day that he would attract overseas oligarchs to return to Russia in response to the U.S.’s economic sanctions. In addition, he said soldiers participating in the Ukraine War would receive two weeks of vacation every six months. “The main idea of the speech was normalization," Russian political analyst Kirill Rogov said.


weappon@donga.com