Biden and Putin give dueling speeches on Ukraine war
(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin gave dueling speeches in Poland and Russia on Tuesday, as the one year anniversary of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine approaches.
In his speech, Biden promised the U.S. and NATO will have Ukraine’s back for as long as it takes.
“Brutality will never grind down the will of a free. And Ukraine, Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia. Never,” Biden said.
Throughout the speech, the President consistently touted the ideals of freedom, saying there is no sweeter word and no higher aspiration.
Biden reminded the crowd of thousands that a year ago Ukraine was bracing for the fall of Kyiv. “I can report: Kyiv stands strong. Kyiv stands proud. It stands tall and, most important, it stands free.”
In the roughly 20-minute speech, the President named Vladimir Putin ten different times, saying, “Putin unleashed unleashed a murderous assault on Ukraine, and tried to starve the world by blocking grain exports.” Biden added Putin’s “craven lust for land and power will fail.”
The U.S. declared Russia was committing war crimes last week, and Biden committed to seeking justice for it during his speech.
Biden’s public address came one day after his surprise visit to Kyiv, during which he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky in a display of Western solidarity with Ukraine
Over in Russia, President Vladimir Putin claimed that Russia will not be defeated, and blamed “Western elites” and the leadership in Kyiv for the ongoing war there.
Putin also announced that new strategic systems had been put on combat duty, threatened to resume nuclear tests and suspended Russia’s involvement in the new START treaty.
The START treaty is meant to ease nuclear tensions by capping the number of nuclear weapons nations are allowed to have.
Though Putin announced a suspension, he emphasized Russia was committed to maintaining nuclear peace and would not be pulling out of the treaty altogether. Hours after his address, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the country would respect the caps on nuclear weapons set under the treaty.
White House officials told NewsNation that Vladimir Putin was meant to give this speech on a different day, but decided to move it up.
“We’ll be watching carefully to see what Russia actually does will of course make sure that in any event, we are postured appropriately for the security of our own country and that of our allies,” said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, calling Putin’s pulling out of the START Treaty “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible.”