The United States and its European allies will announce on Thursday more sanctions against Russia and the tightening of measures already taken when President Joe Biden meets with officials in Brussels, said National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
As the senior US official told journalists, “an additional package of sanctions” will have to be “implemented together with our allies on Thursday” and Europeans will also aim to “ensure that there is a joint effort to end the evasion of sanctions.”
Biden will arrive in Brussels on Wednesday night and on Thursday he will participate in three summits: that of NATO leaders, that of the European Union (EU) and another of the G7, before giving a press conference.
On Friday he will take off to Poland, where his agenda is not yet too clear, beyond his scheduled meeting on Saturday with Polish President Andrzej Duda, before flying back to Washington.
On February 24, Russia began the invasion of Ukraine, before which the US and its allies have imposed several sanctions against Moscow and sent humanitarian and military aid to Kiev.
On this war conflict, Sullivan predicted that “there are hard days ahead in Ukraine (...) This war will not end easily or quickly.”
Biden will leave for Brussels on Wednesday to participate a day later in the meetings of NATO, the G7 and the European Council, before moving to Poland.
“The president will travel to Europe tomorrow to reinforce the incredible unity we have built with our allies and partners in response to Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine and consult on next steps,” said Sullivan.
The US official stressed that since the beginning of the invasion, his country has helped Ukraine to defend itself by supplying arms and military equipment, imposed “serious and increasing economic costs” on Russia by extending sanctions with its allies, and strengthened NATO's eastern flank.
“We have made decisive moves on these three fronts,” Sullivan added, “and President Biden's trip will involve further action on each of these three fronts.”
Sullivan summarized that in Brussels the president will attend an emergency NATO meeting with the leaders of 29 other countries, in addition to meeting with the leaders of the G7 and speaking at a session of the European Council.
Biden “will have the opportunity to coordinate the next phase of military assistance to Ukraine and will join our partners to impose further sanctions on Russia and strengthen existing ones,” said the national security adviser.
Sullivan also anticipated that the president “will announce joint action to improve European energy security and reduce Europe's dependence on Russian gas.”
Biden will also report “new contributions” by the US to humanitarian aid to Ukraine “to alleviate the suffering of civilians” within that country and to care for refugees who have fled.
“From Brussels, President Biden will travel to Poland, where he will meet with US troops helping to defend NATO territory, and he will meet with experts involved in humanitarian response,” Sullivan said.
In Warsaw, Biden is also scheduled to meet with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, on Saturday.
With information from AFP and EFE
Keep reading: