WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden will join allies in applying additional sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and tightening existing ones during his trip to Europe this week, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday.
Biden will travel with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Brussels, where NATO and the European Union are based, on Wednesday for meetings on Thursday with fellow leaders. Then he plans to travel to Warsaw in a show of support for an ally that shares a border with Ukraine.
Sullivan said Biden would work with allies on longer-term adjustments to NATO force posture during his visit and announce “joint action” on enhancing energy security in Europe, which is highly reliant on Russian gas.
“He will have the opportunity to coordinate on the next phase of military assistance to Ukraine. He will join our partners in imposing further sanctions on Russia and tightening the existing sanctions to crack down on evasion and to ensure robust enforcement,” Sullivan told reporters.
Biden will also announce further U.S. contributions to ease humanitarian conditions for refugees and civilians inside Ukraine, many of whom are trapped in besieged cities.
After Brussels, Biden will travel to Poland and “engage with U.S. troops who are now helping to defend NATO territory” and meet with experts involved in the humanitarian response to the war. The president will also meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
The United States and its allies have implemented sweeping sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine and supplied billions of dollars in weapons and aid. Biden has pledged not to send U.S. soldiers into Ukraine, but promised to keep its commitment to defend NATO members if they were attacked.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Jeff Mason; Editing by Heather Timmons, Alistair Bell and Grant McCool)
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