Biden assures Ukrainians "we are with you"

Biden's strong statements about Putin in Poland 1:32

(CNN) --

US President Joe Biden opened his speech in Warsaw by referencing Polish-born Pope John Paul II's message to the Soviet Union in 1979.

"Don't be afraid," he said.

“We rise again in the great battle for freedom, a battle between democracy and autocracy, between freedom and repression… In this battle, we must have clear eyes.

This battle will also not be won in days or months.

We need to steel ourselves for the long fight ahead of us,” Biden said outside the Royal Castle.

• This has been, day by day, the war in Ukraine: data and chronology about the Russian invasion

There was applause when he mentioned people from Ukraine in the crowd in Warsaw.

"Now, in the perennial fight for democracy and freedom, Ukraine and its people are on the front lines, fighting to save their nation, and their courageous resistance is part of a larger fight for... the essential democratic principles that bind to all free people" he said.

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"My message to the people of Ukraine is a message that I delivered today to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister and Defense Minister, who I believe are here tonight: We are with you. Period," he said.

Biden met with Ukrainian officials in Warsaw

US President Joe Biden along with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin attend a meeting on Russia's war in Ukraine with Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in Warsaw on March 26, 2022. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)MOREHIDE

Earlier on Saturday, Biden met with Ukrainian government officials who had traveled to Warsaw for engagements with their American counterparts.

Biden's visit to Europe focused entirely on the war, but the talks with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov were the first time Biden was able to meet face-to-face with officials from the United States. Ukraine during his tour.

As he went, Kuleba described an arduous journey from Kyiv to Warsaw that included a train and three hours by car.

"It's like flying from Kyiv to Washington with a connecting flight in Istanbul," Kuleba said.

"The good thing is that since the beginning of the war I learned to sleep in any conditions. So I slept on the train, I slept in the car."

Biden, learning how the ministers had traveled, recounted that he had also made many trips by train.

• Biden met with Ukrainian officials in Poland as he begins the final day of a high-risk foreign trip.

“You are looking at a guy who has traveled over a million, 300,000 kilometers on a train.

Literally,” Biden said.

The president of the United States traveled from his home in Delaware to Washington as a senator and vice president on Amtrak trains.

The group meeting at a hotel in Warsaw, which also included Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, delved into more substantive issues later.

A White House readout said the men discussed "further efforts to help Ukraine defend its territory."

The United States is considering sanctioning Russian companies that make supplies for the Russian military, sources familiar with the option told CNN after the meeting, though no official decision has been made.

Kuleba said he believed Biden administration officials were "eager to move forward with more sanctions."

Ukraine has been pressuring the US and NATO to increase military assistance to Ukraine, including calls by President Volodymyr Zelensky to establish a no-fly zone.

After the talks in Brussels this week, during which Zelensky appeared virtually, it did not seem that NATO members had warmed to the idea.

Biden has said that becoming more directly involved in the conflict could usher in World War III.

That left Ukraine's leaders dismayed.

"We are very disappointed, in all honesty. We expect more courage. We expected some bold decisions. The alliance has made decisions as if there was no war," said Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, in a live interview with the Atlantic Council on Friday.

A focus on the refugees on the last day of the journey

President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian refugees and aid workers during a visit to the PGE Narodowy Stadium, Saturday, March 26, 2022, in Warsaw.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

As Biden met with refugees in Warsaw, he said Friday that he would have preferred to see the crisis from an even closer perspective.

"They won't let me, understandably, I guess, cross the border and take a look at what's going on in Ukraine," he said.

The White House has said it did not explore a visit to Ukraine.

The visit to Ukraine's western neighbor comes as Poland, on several fronts, has urged the United States to do more in the war.

For example, Polish President Andrzej Duda has called on the United States to speed up and simplify the procedures that allow Ukrainians with relatives in the US to come to the country.

More than 3.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine, according to data from the United Nations refugee agency released Tuesday.

The vast majority of those refugees have fled to Ukraine's western neighbors across Europe.

• People donate their rental houses to refugees

Poland, which borders Ukraine to the west, has recorded more than 2 million Ukrainian refugees crossing the country, although not all the refugees who have entered Poland remain there.

Biden met with chef José Andrés and other volunteers in Warsaw on Saturday at a food distribution site for Andrés' World Center Kitchen, the nonprofit dedicated to providing meals after disasters.

Biden met with some of the volunteers, some from Europe and some from the United States.

"God loves you," the president could be heard telling them and asking if he could help them.

After his meeting with the refugees at Stadion Narodowy, Biden was asked by reporters what he thought of seeing the Ukrainian refugees as he deals with Putin every day.

Biden responded: "He's a butcher."

CNN's Kyle Blaine, Kaitlan Collins and Sam Fossum contributed to this report.

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