US ‘standing strong’ with Ukraine, Biden vows on state visit to France
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US President Joe Biden and US First Lady Jill Biden (both left) with French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron, at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, on June 8, during Mr Biden's state visit.
PHOTO: AFP
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PARIS – President Joe Biden on June 8 vowed Washington was “standing strong” with Ukraine as French counterpart Emmanuel Macron hosted him on a state visit shadowed by Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s invasion and the looming US election.
Speaking after visiting Normandy earlier in the week to mark 80 years since D-Day,
With Ukraine struggling to repel Russian advances over two years into the war and in desperate need of greater Western military aid, Mr Biden insisted that under his rule, the United States would not flinch in its support.
“Putin is not going to stop at Ukraine,” he said alongside Mr Macron, after talks at the Elysee Palace.
“All of Europe will be threatened, we are not going to let that happen,” Mr Biden said.
“The United States is standing strong with Ukraine. We will not, I say it again, walk away,” he added.
Mr Biden, 81, is set to face his Republican rival and predecessor Trump later in 2024, in presidential elections that commentators predict will subject US democracy to a severe test.
Trump has also signalled his lack of interest in international organisations including Nato, and previously boasted he could solve the Ukraine conflict within 24 hours if elected.
‘We got it done’
Mr Macron, 46, emphasised the unity with the US under Mr Biden and expressed gratitude for his counterpart’s approach to Europe.
“I thank you, Mr President, for being the president of the world’s No. 1 power but doing it with the loyalty of a partner who likes and respects the Europeans,” he said.
He said Paris and Washington also shared the same views on Iran, accusing Tehran of pursuing a “strategy of escalation at all levels”.
“Our two countries are determined to exert the necessary pressure to stop this trend,” he said.
Mr Biden has been in France since June 5 and took part in last week’s commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in northern France
Also invited to the ceremonies was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who told Mr Biden in a bilateral meeting on June 7 that Kyiv was counting on “shoulder-to-shoulder” support.
Expressing regret over how an aid package for Ukraine was held up in the US legislature, Mr Biden said: “I wish we could have done it when we wanted to six months earlier, but we got it done.”
The US and France are two of Kyiv’s main Western backers since Russia unleashed its full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.
Elections looming
The US leader met Mr Macron for talks at the Elysee Palace, with the two men seen talking one-to-one at a table in the Elysee gardens under a sunshade on a warm Paris June afternoon.
“France was our first friend,” Mr Biden said, referring to French support in the War of Independence against British colonial rule. “And remains one of our best ones,” he added.
During a welcome ceremony in Paris, Mr Macron and Mr Biden laid a wreath and rekindled the flame on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe.
They then drove down the Champs-Elysees, decked out in the colours of the two nations, flanked by 140 horses and 38 motorcyclists.
The US President and his wife Jill were later to return to the Elysee Palace for a state banquet given in Mr Biden’s honour.
The week of high-profile events has provided both Mr Biden and Mr Macron an opportunity to burnish their image with voters.
Mr Macron’s camp has faced an uphill struggle to narrow a gap with the far right ahead of European Parliament elections on June 9.
After his own talks with Mr Zelensky in Paris on June 7, Mr Macron said he wanted to “finalise” the creation of a coalition of military instructors to train Ukrainian troops in the coming days.
Mr Macron also lashed out at what he called a “camp of pacifists” and the “spirit of defeat” over Ukraine’s fight against Russia, vowing Ukrainian resistance would not end with capitulation. AFP
