Washington Correspondent
"
The appetites of autocrats cannot be appeased: they must be fought
," said Joe Biden on Tuesday from Warsaw.
“
Autocrats only understand one word: no!
No, you will not take my country.
No, you will not take my freedom.
No, you will not take my future!”
Almost a year to the day after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the American president gave a speech full of determination in the Polish capital.
"
There should be no doubt: our support for Ukraine will not waver, NATO will not be divided and we will not tire,
" he said.
The American president was returning from his surprise visit to kyiv, where he had assured President Zelensky that American support for Ukraine would continue.
He repeated these assurances in Poland.
See also Poland, new pillar of American strategy in Europe
Biden's speech had multiple recipients.
He addressed himself to his European allies, to reassure them of American determination;
to the American public, and in particular to the growing proportion of opinion, in particular Republican, which shows its weariness or its opposition to the support for Ukraine and finally for Russia, which counts on this weariness and on the bitter American political divisions to wait out US military support in Kiev and eventually wear it down.
The American president recalled the dramatic events that have followed one another since this attack, and how much the forecasts had been thwarted.
“
A year ago, the world was preparing for the fall of Kyiv
,” Biden said.
I'm back from kyiv, and I can tell you that kyiv is holding up."
“Putin thought autocrats like him were strong, and leaders of democracies were weak.
But he ran up against… Something we wouldn't have thought possible a year ago.
The democracies of the world have become stronger, not weaker
.
Biden put the conflict in a more global context and recalled the stakes of the first war of conquest that Europe has known since the Second World War, and of the most serious challenge to the world order based on the sovereignty of nations. established in 1945, probably since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1991. "
Russia didn't just invade Ukraine, it challenged the whole world
," he insisted.
“
It was Europe that was put to the test, America, NATO and all democracies, with a simple but profound question: will you answer or look away?
A year later, we have the answer: we have remained strong and united.
Yes, we will defend sovereignty…the right of people to live free from aggression…democracy.”
This war was never a necessity.
It is a tragedy, and it was President Putin who chose it.
Every day the war continues is his choice, and he can end the war with just one word.
It's very simple: if Russia stops its invasion of Ukraine, the war is over.
Joe Biden
But Biden also knows that while the situation is less dire than it seemed in the early weeks of the war, the outlook remains bleak.
First of all because the war continues.
Ukraine resisted the invader, repelling attacks on kyiv.
Over the past year, partly thanks to Western and particularly American aid, the Ukrainian army has succeeded in reconquering part of its territory, inflicting heavy losses on the Russians and retaking from them the city of Kherson, the only regional capital whose they had managed to seize at the beginning of the offensive.
Read alsoJoe Biden in kyiv: a visit that reaffirms American leadership
But despite its setbacks, Russia has given no signs that it is ready to give up.
The partial mobilization of conscripts and the preparations for a new offensive, but also Putin's bellicose speeches, offer little prospect of a forthcoming ceasefire.
And from a more general point of view, Washington has not succeeded in completely isolating Moscow on the international scene.
Western sanctions weighed heavily on the Russian economy.
But Russia retains ties with most non-Western countries, including US allies like Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey or India.
More worryingly, instead of helping to alienate Russia from China, the United States' main strategic rival, the war in Ukraine has tightened the "
limitless" alliance.
that Xi Jinping and Putin had proclaimed urbi et orbi since the Winter Olympics in Beijing, a few weeks before the Russian attack.
Castle symbol of trauma
Biden also recalled some obvious facts.
First, to Vladimir Putin, who said Monday in his speech to the Russian people that the United States and NATO had started the war in Ukraine, forcing Russia to defend itself.
But also to his political adversaries, and to all those who, on the left and on the right, in Europe and in the United States, are looking for hidden explanations or dark machinations behind a conflict of which they also accuse Washington and NATO of being at the origin.
“
This war was never a necessity
,” Biden insisted: “
it is a tragedy, and it was President Putin who chose it.
Every day the war continues is his choice, and he can end the war with just one word.
It's very simple: if Russia stops its invasion of Ukraine, the war is over.
If Ukraine stops defending itself against Russia, it's the end of Ukraine.
That is why together we are making sure that Ukraine can defend itself.
»
The defense of freedom is not the work of a day or a year.
It's always difficult, and it's always important
Joe Biden
Biden also thanked Poland, the pivot of the Atlantic Alliance and Western support for Ukraine, for its significant military and economic aid, and the reception of more than 1.5 million refugees.
The castle in Warsaw, in front of which Biden gave his speech, was a reminder of the particular geopolitical situation of this country.
Destroyed and rebuilt several times after each attempt to eliminate the Polish nation, it is a symbol of the traumas of many Eastern European countries.
“
We are living again today what the Polish people and the peoples of all of Europe have known for decades
,” said the American president.
Biden finally urged allies not to be discouraged or fatigued by the length of the war.
“
The defense of freedom is not the work of a day or a year.
It's always difficult, and it's always important
,” warning that the conflict was far from over.
“
There will still be difficult and bitter days, victories and tragedies.
But Ukraine remains determined to fight, and the United States, along with our allies and partners, will continue to stand with it as it fights back
.”
