US President Joe Biden will visit Poland this month to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, returning to the region as the war enters a volatile new phase without a clear path to peace, CNN reports.
The president is planning to visit Poland from February 20-22. The White House said he would meet Polish President Andrzej Duda and other leaders from the region. He’ll deliver remarks ahead of the official anniversary on February 24.
“He wants to talk about the importance of the international community’s resolve and unity in supporting Ukraine for now going on a year,” said John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator at the National Security Council.
“Wouldn’t it be great if the president didn’t have to make a trip around a one year anniversary of a war that never should have started?” Kirby added. “Sadly, that’s where we are.”
Kirby said Biden would send a message of continued US support for Ukraine’s efforts.
“We know the next weeks and months are going to be difficult and critical, especially for their own forces, and the United States is going to continue to stand by them,” he said.
One year ago, Biden was urgently warning a sometimes-skeptical world that a massive buildup of Russian troops along Ukraine’s borders was the precursor to war. At the time, even some inside his own government questioned the ability of the Ukrainians to withstand an invasion, predicting the imminent fall of the capital Kyiv.
Instead, Ukrainian fighters have held the capital and continue to resist Russian attempts to control territory, helped by a massive influx of Western weapons, ammunition and equipment. The war has become a grinding conflict that US officials say could last for months or even years.
