President Joe Biden arrived in Berlin, Germany, last night for meetings with leaders of Germany, France, and the U.K. to discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “Victory Plan” proposals that he claims will end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and discussed U.S.-German relations, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the Middle East, according to a White House statement:
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met today with Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany at the Chancellery to discuss the longstanding U.S.-German relationship, grounded in our shared democratic values. The two leaders coordinated on support for Ukraine in its self-defense against Russian aggression; efforts to counter antisemitism and other forms of hate at home and abroad; the Middle East; amongst other global issues.
Biden’s visit to Europe occurs as U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin attended NATO meetings this week in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia, strengthening alliances with Asia-Pacific partners, and reinforcing NATO’s deterrence and defense.
Austin held a press conference following the NATO meetings, and answered questions on the future of Ukraine’s defense. During the press conference, Austin stated Ukraine has successfully defended its sovereign territory with the help of NATO, and will continue to receive assistance in future defense:
We’ve been doing two things simultaneously, we’re focused on providing Ukraine what it needs to be successful on a battlefield today as it tries to defend it’s sovereign territory, and its been very successful at that, and I would remind everybody that Ukraine has taken on the largest military in Europe, and for two-and-a-half years it has successfully defended it’s territory, and Putin has not achieved not one strategic objective that he set out to achieve. Kyiv still stands, the Ukrainian government did not fold, and I can name a number of other things but they have been very, very successful. So helping them defend in the current fight is one objective, the other objective is making sure that we help them get whats necessary to be able to defend against aggression in the future, and deter aggression as well.
