During the meeting Biden was flanked by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (far right, facing) and sitting opposite Kuleba and Reznikov (front 3rd right)
Joe Biden on Saturday in Warsaw met two Ukrainian ministers in the first face-to-face talks between the US president and top Kyiv officials since Russia’s invasion began.
Biden also called Russian President Vladimir Putin “a butcher” after meeting with Ukrainian refugees and said he was unconvinced by Russia’s claim it was scaling down its war aims.
The meeting took place at the Marriott Hotel in the city centre — opposite a Warsaw train station where there has been a constant flow of Ukrainian refugees since the conflict started.
There were Ukrainian and US flags in the background.
– Russian missile fragment –
“The invincible character of Ukrainians and Western ones, especially US ones, are the recipe for our victory,” Kuleba said after the meeting.
Price said that Blinken and Austin “pledged continued support to meet Ukraine’s humanitarian, security, and economic needs”.
Since then, Kuleba has also met Blinken in Poland, next to the border with Ukraine on March 5.
Biden also told Polish President Andrzej Duda that NATO’s collective defence was a “sacred commitment” for the US, adding: “You can count on that… For your freedom and ours”.
– ‘He’s a butcher’ –
Asked by reporters what he thought of Putin’s actions, Biden responded simply: “He’s a butcher”.
“I remember what it’s like when you have someone in a war zone and every morning you get up and you wonder, you are just wondering, you are praying you don’t get that phone call,” said Biden, whose son Beau served in Iraq before dying of a brain tumour.
On Friday, the US president spoke to US soldiers stationed in Poland near the Ukrainian border and aid workers helping refugees fleeing the conflict.
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