Biden attacked Putin in a speech in Warsaw on Tuesday following a surprise visit to Ukraine a year after Russia’s invasion. Biden said Putin severely underestimated Ukraine by assuming it would rapidly crumble and its democratic allies would scatter as Russian forces advanced. Biden said Putin has presided over a series of humiliating defeats since the start of the invasion.
“A year ago, the world prepared for the fall of Kiev,” Biden told thousands of onlookers gathered outside the Royal Castle. “Well, I just came from a trip to Kiev, and I can report that Kiev is strong. Kiev stands proud. It stands tall. And most importantly, it is free.
“When President Putin ordered his tanks to roll into Ukraine, he thought we would roll,” he said. “He was wrong! The Ukrainian people are very brave. A coalition of countries from the Americas, Europe, the Atlantic to the Pacific—we were very much integrated. Democracy was very strong. Instead of an easy victory they assumed and predicted, Putin would end up with burnt-out tanks and With the Russian army went into disarray.
Biden, however, did not address Putin’s decision to “suspend” the New START treaty in a speech that was filled with a triumphant message.
Within his first month in office, Biden struck a deal with Putin to extend New START for five years. (It was set to expire in February 2021, after the Trump administration failed to conclude a deal.) Last year, the US and Russia agreed to achieve deep, irreversible and verifiable cuts in their nuclear Committed to creating a new settlement. Arsenal,” according to a joint statement.
Phil McCausland Contribution,
