President Joe Biden says U.S. will continue to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“My message to President Putin who I have known for a long time is simple: we will not walk away,” Biden said in his State of the Union address to both chambers of Congress.
“If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you he will not,” the Democrat politician said.
Biden, once again, called on Congress to authorise further U.S. aid for Ukraine.
“Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand by Ukraine and supply the weapons,” the 81-year-old said.
He said that Ukraine was not asking for U.S. soldiers and he would not send any.
The Republicans wanted the U.S. to relinquish its leading role in the world, he said.
Biden also condemned statements by his predecessor Donald Trump on the NATO defence alliance.
“It is dangerous and it is unacceptable,” he said.
Trump recently said at an election campaign appearance that he would not provide any U.S. support to NATO allies with low defence spending in the event of a Russian attack.
“We have to stand up to Putin,” Biden emphasised.
The U.S. has been considered Kiev’s most important ally over the past two years since the start of the Russian war against Ukraine.
The U.S. government has supplied Ukraine with huge quantities of weapons and ammunition.
However, for some time now, there have been no more supplies from the U.S.
A new aid package of around 60 billion U.S. dollars for Ukraine has passed the Senate.
However, it is stuck in the second chamber, House of Representatives, where Republicans seem to be blocking it. (dpa/NAN)
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