President Joe Biden is headed to Poland this week as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches its one-year mark.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden is headed to Poland this week as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches its one-year mark.
The question dogging the US leader is how much more military support to continue to provide or what further sanctions to impose on Russia. The risk of solidarity fatigue is growing as the war drags on.
Will Biden go to Ukraine? This would clearly provide a psychological shot in the arm to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who already has high expectations of more deliverables.
The White House says there are no plans for Biden to cross into Ukraine, but the proximity to the war zone raises the prospect that he could visit the country for the first time since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, 2022.
He’s one of few major allies who haven’t yet visited the country. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz went to Kyiv back in June. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is going on Monday.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked explicitly on Friday whether Biden would go and he said “no.” That answer, of course, could change.
Why it matters: Zelenskiy is asking for faster delivery of military aid and equipment as Ukrainian officials and its military faces stepped-up attacks by Russia in the east. The US has committed $30 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Biden took office, though the administration hasn’t agreed to provide fighter jets.
“Can’t blame President Zelenskiy for wanting more, heavier, faster,” Kirby said. “We also understand the clock. And we know that time is critical here.”
Biden’s trip to Warsaw comes as some Republicans threaten to cut funding for Ukraine, though White House officials are confident that the existing money appropriated will last through the fiscal year.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell downplayed that narrative. “Reports about the death of Republican support for strong American leadership in the world have been greatly exaggerated,” he said at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
What the US has given so far: The Biden administration has provided by far the largest chunk of military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv. Last month, Biden said the US would provide Ukrainian forces with Abrams M1 tanks, helping unlock a supply of German-made Leopard tanks that are set to arrive sooner.
It’ll be “many months” before the US’s Abrams tanks will be procured, built and ready to get into Ukrainian hands, Kirby said Friday.
Zelenskiy and his team are now asking allies to commit to sending fighter jets, a demand that Biden has so far ruled out. US officials, however, say that Ukraine’s needs have evolved with the conflict and can’t predict what that means for the provision of fighter jets going forward.
Poland’s role: With a long history of antagonism with its bigger European neighbors stretching back to multiple partitions and the trauma of World War II, Warsaw has often looked to its transatlantic alliance as a source of backing.
The US has prized Poland’s role within NATO as a vocal supporter of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, often in contrast with Germany, which had to be pressured into sending tanks.
Russia’s invasion has turned the provincial city of Rzeszow and its airport, 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Ukrainian border, into international gateways to the war.
Poland’s government says it’s more than doubling annual defense spending this year to 4% of gross domestic product, including a significant share for US weaponry. Just this month, the US said it plans to sell Poland about $10 billion in weapons, including 18 Himars precision rocket launchers and ammunition.
Who is Biden meeting in Warsaw? Biden plans to meet Polish President Andrzej Duda and leaders of the so-called Bucharest Nine group of eastern-flank NATO allies during his Feb. 21-22 visit.
Biden last visited Warsaw in late March, a month after the invasion, and denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin in a speech at the capital’s former royal castle.
–With assistance from Patrick Donahue.
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