The American president held a press conference after the Nato summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin was “banking on a split in NATO” by launching the invasion of Ukraine, but the Atlantic Alliance has “never been more united than it is today,” U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday in Brussels.
President Biden promised Western allies would respond if Russia uses chemical weapons against Ukraine.
“It would trigger a response in-kind,” Biden told reporters. “Whether or not you’re asking whether NATO would cross, we’d make that decision at the time.”
Biden is in Brussels meeting with NATO allies for emergency talks as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its fourth week.
At a press conference at NATO headquarters, he declared that more weapons from the West were flowing into Ukraine as leaders discussed how they could best support the Ukrainian people.
Biden said the United States was committing $1 billion for Ukrainian assistance and added that United States would take in up to 100,000 Ukrainians who have fled their country.
Biden also announced new sanctions to punish Russian for its invasion of Ukraine, including more than 300 members of the Russian Duma and more than 40 Russian defense companies.
“Putin is getting exactly the opposite of what he intended to have as a consequence of going into Ukraine,” Biden said.
Biden ‘s mission ahead of Thursday’s meeting was “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,” said his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
