Ukraine War: Biden to Frame Conflict As Battle For Democracy
US President Joe Biden is expected to lay out his view of the war in Ukraine as a battle for democracy during a speech later on Tuesday.
He will make his address in the Polish capital, Warsaw – a day after his surprise visit to Ukraine.
“His speech comes hours after Russia’s Vladimir Putin announced Moscow was suspending participation in a key arms control treaty with the US.”
He made the announcement in his state of the nation address.
The leaders’ competing speeches come days before the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In Warsaw, the US president is expected to stress the vital role the United States has played in galvanising Western backing for Ukraine against Russian aggression.
But he will also be ‘looking to shore up support’ for his policy at home, where some politicians are expressing doubts about the “scale of US involvement.”
In his speech a stone’s throw from the Kremlin, President Putin again blamed the West for Russia’s invasion, complaining of Western hypocrisy and of withdrawing from “fundamental agreements.”
“I want to repeat: it is they who are culpable for the war, and we are using force to stop it,” he said to great applause.
Mr Putin also reiterated his unfounded claim that Moscow had been facing a neo-Nazi threat from Ukraine, which he used as justification to launch his “special military operation.”
He said Russia would suspend its participation in the New Start treaty – the last remaining nuclear arms deal between Russia and the US – adding: “No-one should be under the illusion that global strategic parity can be violated.”
BBC /Shakirat Sadiq
