Biden praises allies for unity on Ukraine war
US President Joe Biden says Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped the West would “splinter” as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on.
But Biden praised the allies who have stuck together and stood up to the Kremlin during the four months of war, applying sanctions on Russia while sending weaponry to Ukraine.
Greeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday, Biden praised his counterpart for helping to sustain the pressure on Russia and exhorted him to keep at it — a central message of Biden’s five-day trip to meet allies at summits in Germany and Spain.
“We have to stay together, because Putin has been counting on from the beginning that somehow NATO and the G7 would splinter,” Biden said. “But we haven’t and we’re not going to.”
Biden added: “We can’t let this aggression take the form it has and get away with it.”
Scholz, who is hosting the annual Group of Seven summit in the Bavarian alps, greeted Biden on a balcony overlooking what the US leader called a “magnificent” view of lush greenery and towering peaks.
Biden credited Scholz for helping to lead the European in standing up to Russia, saying his tough response “had a great impact on the rest of Europe to move.”
