According to the White House, President Joe Biden and allies gathered for a NATO summit in Brussels on March 24 to announce additional sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The world leaders also announced new measures to prevent the Kremlin from evading existing economic restrictions.
According to White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan, sanctions will be imposed in collaboration with the European Union.
“[Biden] will join the G-7 leaders, and he will address the 27 leaders of the European Union at a session of the European Council,” said Sullivan. “He will have the opportunity to coordinate on the next phase of military assistance to Ukraine.”
As for the latest sanctions, Sullivan did not go into detail, but he informed reporters that the Biden administration would center on implementing the existing sanctions and establishing that “there is a joint effort to crack down on evasion, on sanctions-busting, on any attempt by any country to help Russia basically undermine, weaken, or get around the sanctions.”
In addition to sanctions, the United States and its allies are anticipated to launch a new initiative to “enhance European energy security and reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas,” said Sullivan.
According to Sullivan, Biden will also use the meeting to plan potential reactions to hypothetical scenarios, such as Russia’s use of weapons of mass destruction or cyber strikes.
President Biden also planned to head to Poland from Brussels to meet the Polish President Andrzej Duda and connect with U.S. troops aiding the protection of NATO territory, Bloomberg reports.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees‘ office, more than 2 million Ukrainian refugees have left the nation since Russian forces invaded on February 24.
Biden will also meet with experts working on humanitarian issues and announce increased U.S. contributions in response to Ukraine.
Vice President Kamala Harris has promised to help Poland deal with the influx of refugees.
Furthermore, as the war carries on, Duda has asked for more U.S. aid and for NATO to expand its military presence on its eastern frontier.
While fighting, Poland has received a Patriot missile defense system and thousands of extra troops from the U.S. Additionally, the country now has a British missile defense system called Sky Sabre.
Leaders will also consider how to react if China helps Russia strengthen its military or evade economic sanctions. The United States wants to review the matter before the European Union’s conference with Chinese leaders on April 1.
U.S. officials indicated earlier this month that they suspected the Russians had sought Beijing’s support. However, Sullivan stated on March 22 that the U.S. had not observed the provision of military weapons to Russia since Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke last week.
Recent weeks have seen calls for a more significant NATO and U.S. military presence in Russia’s neighboring countries, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Lithuania, and Slovakia.
New sanctions arrived as the U.S. and other United Nations have imposed a succession of penalties against Russia to weaken President Vladimir Putin’s standing.
Sullivan stated that Biden’s trip to Europe aims to “ensure we stay united, to cement our collective resolve, to send a powerful message that we are prepared and committed to this for as long as it takes, and to advance our response.”
