Because of the Russian war of aggression, Western heads of state and government are coming together for a whole series of summits. US President Biden arrives in Brussels on Thursday. On Friday we continue to Warsaw.
European Union governments will discuss an oil embargo against Russia with US President Joe Biden this week. “We are working on a fifth round of sanctions and some new proposals are being made,” a senior EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity. EU governments will start their talks among foreign ministers on Monday before Biden arrives in Brussels for various summits on Thursday.
In view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the American President also wants to travel to Poland in the coming week. The White House announced on Sunday evening (local time) that Biden would initially attend the NATO, EU and G7 summits in Brussels this Thursday as planned. On Friday he will continue to Warsaw. A bilateral meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda is planned there for Saturday.
It should be about the humanitarian crisis “triggered by Russia’s unjustified and unfounded war against Ukraine.” The White House said Biden will hold a video conference Monday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The topic of the conference at 11:00 a.m. (local time/4:00 p.m. CET) is the coordinated response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Biden’s departure for Brussels is scheduled for Wednesday.
G7 meeting in Brussels
The heads of state and government of the leading democratic economic powers will meet in Brussels on Thursday for a G7 summit. The summit is embedded in two other summits in Brussels on the same day: First the NATO heads of state and government will meet. It will also be about the Ukraine war. An EU summit will take place in the afternoon. Biden is attending all three summits. It is his third trip to Europe since taking office in January 2021.
According to the UN, more than two million refugees from the neighboring country have arrived in Poland, a NATO partner state, since the start of the war in Ukraine. There is currently no official information on how many of the war refugees stayed in Poland and how many have already traveled on to other EU countries. Ukraine – the largest country in Europe by area – had a population of more than 44 million before the Russian attack began. Poland and Ukraine are connected by a national border that is more than 500 kilometers long.
Irritation about MiG-29 advance
At the beginning of March, US Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Poland, among other places. At the time, President Duda had appealed to the US government to take in refugees from the country for the duration of the war in Ukraine. Harris also met with refugees during her visit to Poland and then continued on to Romania.
Most recently, a proposal by Poland had caused irritation in the US government. Warsaw wanted to hand over MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine via a US base in Germany. The US refused. Such a measure could lead to a direct confrontation between NATO forces and the Russian military, which could lead to an escalation of the war, the reasoning said. At the same time, Biden repeatedly emphasizes that he will defend every inch of NATO territory. Poland borders both Ukraine and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
(APA/Reuters/dpa)