Ukraine war: Biden visits Poland after unveiling plan to wean Europe off Russian gas
- Joe Biden’s two-day visit to Poland follows war emergency summits in Brussels
- US and EU announce plan aimed at reducing Europe’s reliance on Russian energy
US President Joe Biden travelled to Poland on Friday, trying to signal Western resolve in the face of a Russian invasion that has increasingly turned to a grinding war of attrition.
Air Force One landed in the eastern Polish city of Rzeszow – bringing the US president less than 100km from war-torn Ukraine which is fighting Russia’s invasion.
The trip comes after Biden attended an emergency summit of Nato and the G7 in Brussels on Thursday, as fears rise that the month-old war in Ukraine could yet spark what the US president has called “World War III”.
Nato leaders have decided to activate defences against chemical and nuclear weapons amid fears of a Russian escalation in Ukraine. Moscow has refused to rule out using nuclear weapons.
Before his trip to Poland earlier, Biden joined European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to announce a new partnership to reduce the continent’s reliance on Russian energy.
Biden asserted that Russian President Vladimir Putin uses energy to “coerce and manipulate his neighbours” and uses the profits from its sale to “drive his war machine”.