A top U.S. diplomat called Russia’s declared new offensive in Ukraine ‘very pathetic,’ ahead of President Joe Biden‘s trip to the region next week.
Amb. Victoria Nuland, the under secretary for political affairs at the State Department, gave a scathing assessment of Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s military push to reporters Thursday and questioned how long the Russian people would accept mass casualties.
‘Today, we see that Putin gravely underestimated both the resolve, capability, and bravery of the people of Ukraine to defend their country, their democracy, and their freedom,’ Nuland said. ‘He also gravely underestimated the resolve of the free world to stand with Ukraine, our allies and partners, for as long as it takes.’
Nuland said she wouldn’t dare get inside Putin’s head.
‘That is not a place that I want to be,’ she said, before adding: ‘I think what we’ve seen is that he is arrogant enough to believe that he can defeat Ukraine, that Ukraine is Russian, and that he will continue.’
‘I think the more interesting question is whether the Russian people will stand for this given how many of their sons they are losing – more than 200,000 Russians killed in action or wounded in action over the course of the year,’ she added.
An elderly resident walks past a partially destroyed building in Kharkiv, Ukraine on Friday
Amb. Victoria Nuland, the under secretary for political affairs at the State Department, called Russia’s new offensive in Ukraine ‘pathetic’
President Joe Biden will depart Washington and head to Warsaw, Poland Monday night to meet with key US allies
Biden will depart for Warsaw, Poland Monday night, meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda and leaders of the Bucharest Nine, just ahead of February 24 – the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion.
The Bucharest Nine includes Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungry, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia. Biden is expected to travel to Lithuania for the NATO summit in July.
‘President Biden will thank President Duda and, in fact, the Polish people for the $3.8 billion in military and humanitarian assistance that they provided to Ukraine over the past year,’ said National Security Council spokesperson at Friday’s White House briefing.
The president is then set to deliver remarks in Warsaw Tuesday night.
The speech will be on ‘how the United States has rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and democracy,’ Kirby said.
Biden has yet to set foot in Ukraine during the war.
‘The trip will be in Warsaw,’ Kirby answered when asked if there were any plans for Biden to cross into Ukraine. ‘No,’ he said to a second question about whether the president would cross into the wartorn country.
First lady Jill Biden went over the border last year on Mother’s Day to meet with Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska.
Ukrainian emergency services employees prepare to load the remains of an S-300 missile fired by Russian forces onto a truck in Kharkiv
Ukrainian serviceman of the State Border Guard Service fire a mortar toward the Russian position in Bakhmut on Thursday
Her visit was a surprise and marked with secrecy.
Top Congressional leaders have made the voyage too.
The top Senate Republican, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, led a delegation in May.
He was joined by GOP Sens. Susan Collins, John Cornyn and John Barrasso.
Two weeks earlier, then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made the trip.
As has Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington in December, ahead of the Republican takeover in the House of Representatives.
He met with Biden at the White House and then addressed a joint session of Congress, trying to shore up financial support for the war, as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had suggested his GOP majority may not be as willing to spend taxpayer dollars on Ukraine’s war effort.
