Joe Biden lands in Brussels to send Putin a clear message of Western unity
Joe Biden has landed in Brussels to send Vladimir Putin the message that, in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Western alliance is stronger than it has ever been since the end of the Cold War.
The US President has a packed agenda for his trip to the Belgian capital: his day will start in the morning with an emergency NATO summit to then be followed by a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) and conclude by joining his EU counterparts at the European Council building.
The extraordinary coincidence of the three high-level encounters responds to the deteriorating situation inside Ukraine, where the Russian advance has stalled but the death toll continues to mount and cities are shelled and bombed. The siege of Mariupol has drawn extreme condemnation from the international community, with a United Nations official describing it as "hellish" and "desperate."
Biden himself has warned that Putin might be considering resorting to biological and chemical weapons to speed up the military campaign, a scenario that would open a dangerous and unpredictable chapter in the month-long war.
The EU is already working on a new "massive" set of sanctions if these weapons, which are banned under international law, are eventually used, a EU official said speaking on condition of anonymity.
Biden's visit is meant to strengthen the US response on "three critical fronts," according to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan: to equip Ukraine militarily, impose more costs on Russia and reinforce the Western alliance.
"We are prepared and committed to this for as long as it takes," Sullivan said during a press briefing.
The White House has put the bloc in a tight spot after introducing a total ban on imports of Russian fossil fuels, the
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