In addition to marking the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine with a trip to Poland, US President Joe Biden will call his French, British and Italian counterparts next week, the White House announced on Friday.
President Biden, who also has plans to receive German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on 3 March, will be talking to a number of US allies on the phone next week, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at a news conference. He later identified them as French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
In Warsaw, where he will be on Tuesday and Wednesday, Biden will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda. He also plans to deliver a solemn speech from the Polish capital. The US president will want to send a message to Vladimir Putin as much as to the Russian people from Warsaw, Kirby said.
The US president will also see the so-called Bucharest Nine, a group of Eastern European countries that are members of the Western defence alliance.
The spokesman said the international coalition’s support for Ukraine “remained unwavering” and was “stronger than ever.” However, he reiterated that Biden had no plans to visit Ukraine next week or to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was hosted at the White House in December.
During a previous visit to Poland less than a year ago, the 80-year-old Democrat made a lasting impression by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “butcher” and saying he “cannot stay in power.”
The White House later said that did not mean Biden had called for regime change in Russia.
