It was one of the long awaited moments of the tour of the American president Joe Biden in Poland in this part of Eastern Europe after his surprise visit to Ukraine on Monday 20 February 2022.
During this historic tour in this region of Europe, a few days before the first anniversary of the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, the head of the White House mentioned especially Article 5 of the Treaty of the Atlantic Alliance (NATO) according to which “an attack on one is an attack on all”.
In this speech of nearly half an hour, the American president reiterated the strong commitment of the United States to NATO, facing Russia, which according to him, is a direct threat to several countries of the European Union, including the countries of Eastern Europe.
Wanting to be very firm towards Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, under the applause of the public held to his lips in front of the Royal Palace in Warsaw, the political capital of Poland, took up what he calls the sacred oath of Article 5 of the Atlantic Alliance treaty signed in 1949 dealing with the solid unity of NATO members.
Speaking only hours after the Russian president’s speech in which he announced that his country will no longer participate in the New Start agreement on nuclear disarmament, Joe Biden also praised the strength and pride of the Ukrainians in the face of the Russian army’s assault launched in February 2022.
Further on, the American president announced with great pomp the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Atlantic Alliance during a summit to be held in the United States next year. The occasion to praise this union which he said is “stronger and more united than ever”. He took the opportunity to announce the upcoming membership of Sweden and Finland in NATO despite several attempts by Vladimir Putin to thwart the process of integrating these two countries into NATO.
The 46th president of the United States expressed the unwavering support of his country and that of other members of NATO to Ukraine arguing that since the beginning of the military offensive of Vladimir Putin the United States has already provided military assistance valued at more than 44 billion dollars to Ukraine.
Joe Biden rather offensive in his speech declared that the invasion of Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia while denouncing the war crimes and atrocities of Russian forces at the expense of the valiant Ukrainian civilian population.
Joe Biden condemned the attitude of Vladimir Putin who only wants to make war contrary to NATO and its partners. According to him, contrary to what the government of Moscow claims,
the West is not plotting to attack Russia.
Mr. Biden did not miss the opportunity to salute the courage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. One year after the bombs began to fall, after the Russian tanks entered Ukraine, Ukraine is still independent and free. From Kherson to Kharkiv, Ukrainian fighters have taken back their territory. President Zelenskyi still leads a democratically elected government that represents the will of the Ukrainian people. And the world has already voted repeatedly, including the UN General Assembly, to condemn Russian aggression and support a just peace,” he said.
It should be said that the American president, according to his agenda, must meet Wednesday, February 22 with the leaders of the nine of Bucharest, which brings together since 2015, all the countries of the eastern flank of NATO, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea (Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic).
Note that this is the second visit of Joe Biden to Warsaw in only one year since the beginning in February 2022 of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. According to some analysts, this visit is made to mark the importance of Poland as a bridgehead for NATO in the region.
Pierre Philor Saint-Fleur