Biden says Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he'll never weaken resolve of free world

Adressing his first State of the Union address, US President Joe Biden on Tuesday (local time) made the ongoing war in Ukraine a major focus. During his address in the US House chamber, Biden pledged that the Russian leader Vladimir Putin would “pay a continuing high price” for the invasion of the former Soviet nation. He lauded the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people, who have been facing a barrage of missiles on their major cities. 

Denouncing the Kremlin leader, the US President stated, “Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks but he will never gain the hearts and souls of the Ukrainian people. He will never extinguish their love of freedom. He will never weaken the resolve of the free world.”

The US President vowed to “inflict pain” on his Russian counterpart in response to Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Kyiv. He said that the US would join European allies in banning Russian flights from US airspace. Biden also announced that the Justice Department is launching a task force to take aim at Russian oligarchs and their holdings. 

“Putin is now isolated from the world more than ever,” Biden said, adding, “Together along with our allies, we are right now enforcing powerful economic sanctions. We are cutting off Russia’s largest banks from the international financial system. Preventing Russia’s central bank from defending the Russian Ruble, making Putin’s $630 billion ‘war fund’ worthless.”

Biden vows to defend NATO allies 

Biden asserted while the US would not send forces into Ukraine to confront the Russian military, the US would join with NATO allies to defend the alliance. He clearly stated that the “US forces are not engaged and will not engage in conflict with Russian forces in Ukraine”. “Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our NATO Allies – in the event that Putin decides to keep moving west. Every single inch,” the US President pledged. 

In his address, Biden even promised to bring together scores of US allies and to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to send weapons and humanitarian aid to Ukrainians resisting an unprovoked Russian invasion. The US President touted “more than $1 billion in direct assistance to Ukraine,” including military, economic, and humanitarian aid from the US and allies. He praised joint economic measures imposed on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s economy. 

(Image: AP)