President Joe Biden on Saturday vowed Washington was “standing strong” with Ukraine as French counterpart Emmanuel Macron hosted him on a state visit, shadowed by Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s invasion and the looming United States election.
Speaking after visiting Normandy earlier this week to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Biden repeatedly emphasized the value of America’s European alliances in a swipe at his more isolationist election rival Donald Trump.
With Ukraine struggling to repel Russian advances over two years into the war and in desperate need of greater Western military aid, Biden insisted that under his rule the US would not flinch in its support.
“Putin is not going to stop at Ukraine,” Biden said alongside Macron after talks at the Élysée Palace.
“The United States is standing strong with Ukraine. We will not, I say it again, walk away,” he added.
A loyer partner to Europe
Macron, 46, emphasized the unity with the US under Biden and expressed gratitude for his counterpart’s approach to Europe.
“I thank you, Mr. President, for being the president of the world’s number one power but doing it with the loyalty of a partner who likes and respects the Europeans,” he said.
He stated that Paris and Washington also shared the same views on Iran, accusing Tehran of pursuing a “strategy of escalation at all levels.”
“Our two countries are determined to exert the necessary pressure to stop this trend,” he said.
Joe Biden also assured, after the release of four Israeli hostages in Gaza, that the US would continue to mobilize until “all” were released.
“We will not stop working until all the hostages are home,” he declared. “We welcome the four hostages released today,” added his French counterpart.
Biden has been in France since Wednesday and took part in this week’s commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in northern France involving US, British, Canadian and other foreign troops, which changed the course of World War II.
Also invited to the ceremonies was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who told Biden in a bilateral meeting Friday that Kyiv was counting on “shoulder-to-shoulder” support.
Expressing regret over how an aid package for Ukraine was held up in the US legislature, Biden said, “I wish we could have done it when we wanted to six months earlier, but we got it done.”
‘France was our first friend’
The US leader met Macron for talks at the Élysée Palace, with the two men seen talking one-to-one at a table in the Élysée gardens.
“France was our first friend,” Biden said, referring to French support in the War of Independence against British colonial rule. “And remains one of our best ones,” he added.
With AFP
