US President Joe Biden meets Wednesday in Warsaw with the group of nine leaders of the NATO countries of Central and Eastern Europe, in the presence of the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, to assure them of the "unwavering"
support
of Washington facing Moscow the day after a belligerent speech by Vladimir Putin.
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Biden “
will meet with the leaders of the Bucharest Nine (B9), a group of NATO allies on our eastern flank, in the presence of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to reaffirm the United States' unwavering support for the Alliance security
," the White House said in a statement.
This demonstration of support, planned for the presidential palace in Warsaw, aims to reassure these nine countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) whose the common point is to be former members of the Soviet Union or the Warsaw Pact and to be on the eastern flank of NATO.
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It comes the day after a virulent speech by the Russian president, who vowed to "
methodically
" continue his offensive launched almost a year ago in Ukraine and announced Russia's withdrawal from the Russian-American New Start treaty on disarmament. nuclear, reminiscent of the worst hours of the Cold War.
Westerners want to "
finish us once and for all
", thundered Putin, accusing Washington and its European allies of bearing "
responsibility for the fueling of the Ukrainian conflict and its victims
".
Russian withdrawal from Newstart
Joe Biden replied to him, in an address the same day in Warsaw, that "
the West is not plotting to attack Russia as Putin said
".
“
The millions of Russian citizens who just want to live in peace with their neighbors are not the enemy
,” he added.
But Joe Biden warned, the day after a surprise visit to Kiev on Monday during which he again promised arms to the Ukrainians, that the support of the United States for Ukraine “will not weaken
”
.
"
Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, never
," hammered the American president, also evoking "
America's iron will
".
“
NATO will not be divided and we will not let go
“Assured Biden, who is due to return to Washington on Wednesday evening.
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The United States this week accused China of considering supplying arms to Russia to support its offensive in Ukraine, which Beijing denies.
The head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, is due to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday in Moscow.
He could meet Vladimir Putin during his visit to the Russian capital, according to the Tass news agency.
The delivery of arms by China to Moscow would be a "
red line
" for the EU, said the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.
He announced that EU member countries would dip into their stocks to speed up arms and ammunition supplies to Ukraine.
Putin made an impression by announcing the suspension of the New Start treaty on nuclear disarmament, saying he was also ready to resume nuclear testing.
An announcement shortly after mitigated by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs assuring in a press release that “
Russia intends to maintain a responsible approach and will continue, during the life of the treaty, to strictly respect the quantitative limits of strategic offensive weapons
”.
Vladimir Putin also called on Russian forces to be "
ready to carry out nuclear weapons tests
", in case the United States were the first to do so.
A world without nuclear arms control is '
much more dangerous'
“Said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
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During Putin's speech, Russian forces shelled buildings in Kherson, southern Ukraine, killing at least five civilians, according to Ukrainian authorities.