Joe Biden reaffirmed the United States’ dedication to European security as he told huge crowds in Poland that Vladimir Putin would never win his war in Ukraine.
The US President, who earlier met his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, addressed people gathered outside the Royal Castle in Warsaw, saying: “democracy was too strong for Putin.”
He warned that there were “hard and bitter days ahead,” but pledged that the United States and its allies would “have Ukraine’s back” and “will not waver” in supporting Kyiv as the Russian President’s invasion enters its second year.
“Democracies of the world will stand guard over freedom today, tomorrow and forever”, he said.
Mr Biden insisted there will be no backing down from what he has portrayed as a global struggle between democracy and autocracy. He described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ,that began on February 24 last year, as a “murderous assault” but said that Ukraine “still stands strong”.
“The principles which have been the cornerstone of peace, prosperity and stability on this planet for more than 75 years risked being shattered. One year ago, the world was bracing for the fall of Kyiv,” he said.
“Well, I’ve just come from a visit to Kyiv and Kyiv stands strong, proud and tall. And most importantly it stands free.”
"When President Putin ordered his tanks to roll into Ukraine, he thought we would roll over. He was wrong," he added.
Mr Biden's speech came a day after his unannounced trip to the Ukrainian capital, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and walked the city streets as an air raid siren blared.
Addressing the people of Russia directly, Mr Biden said the West was not plotting to attack Russia and that the war was never a necessity, but it is a tragedy.
He said President Putin chose the war, and he could easily end it.
Mr Biden added: “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, never”, which was met with loud applause from a crowd that included Polish citizens and Ukrainian refugees.
The president made his message clearer by adding: “Free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness.”
Earlier, Mr Biden described Nato as “maybe the most consequential alliance in history”, and he said it’s “stronger than it’s ever been” despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hopes that it would fracture over the war in Ukraine.
“We have to have security in Europe,” Mr Biden said. “It’s that basic, that simple, that consequential.”
Nato allies and other supporters have sent Ukraine tens of billions of dollars worth of increasingly heavy war weaponry and ammunition, with modern battle tanks promised and some mulling Kyiv's appeals for fighter jets and longer-range missiles.
President Duda praised Biden’s trip to Kyiv as “spectacular,” saying it “boosted morale of Ukraine’s defenders”.
The conflict in Ukraine — the most significant war in Europe since World War II — has already left tens of thousands of people dead, devastated Ukraine’s infrastructure system and damaged the global economy.
Britain estimates the war has left up to 200,000 Russian casualties and as many as 60,000 killed. Ukrainian troops have also been hit by high casualties, with more than 40,000 civilians reported to have been killed, often in indiscriminate Russian artillery shelling and air strikes.
Mr Biden spoke on the day that Putin was delivering his long-delayed state-of-the-nation address, in which he announced that Moscow would suspend its participation in the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the United States.
Mr Biden did not mention Russia's START suspension in his speech, but said Washington and its allies did not seek to control or destroy Russia through their solidarity with Kyiv.
Last March, speaking from Warsaw, Mr Biden delivered a forceful and highly personal condemnation of Mr Putin just weeks after the start of the war.
