Joe Biden praises Poland for helping millions of Ukrainian refugees

25 March 2022, 17:44

Russia Ukraine War US Europe
Russia Ukraine War US Europe. Picture: PA

Mr Biden also visited some of the thousands of US troops who have been sent to the Poland-Ukraine border.

President Joe Biden has saluted Poland for helping more than two million refugees who have fled Russia’s invasion as he met humanitarian experts close to the Ukraine border.

Mr Biden said he had hoped to get even closer to the border but was prevented because of security concerns.

He said he wanted to visit Poland to underscore that the assistance it is providing is of “enormous consequence” as Europe experiences the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War.

“It’s not stopping,” Mr Biden said of the devastation in Ukraine. “It’s like something out of a science fiction movie.”

Russia Ukraine War US Europe
President Joe Biden visited troops at a base in Jasionka, Poland (Evan Vucci/AP)

Mr Biden also visited some of the thousands of US troops who have been sent to the area to assist with the humanitarian emergency and to bolster the US military presence on the eastern flank of Nato.

More than 3.5 million Ukrainians have fled the country since the February 24 invasion, including about 2.2 million to Poland, according to the United Nations.

Within a few days, the number of refugees displaced from Ukraine since last month will exceed the number of Syrians forced from their homes over years of conflict after a 2011 uprising turned into a full-scale war, said Samantha Power, the US Agency for International Development administrator.

The American military commitment in Poland was apparent as soon as Air Force One touched down, rolling past Patriot missile batteries.

More hardware, including heavy trucks and other equipment painted with dark green and brown camouflage, was present at the airport.

A nearby convention centre serves as a base for the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.

Russia Ukraine War US Europe
Mr Biden took a selfie with soldiers (Evan Vucci/AP)

Polish President Andrzej Duda joined Mr Biden for a briefing with humanitarian experts.

Mr Duda, through an interpreter, thanked Mr Biden for his support. He said the Poles see the Ukrainians they are receiving as their “guests”.

“This is the name we want to apply to them,” Mr Duda said. “We do not want to call them refugees. They are our guests, our brothers, our neighbours from Ukraine, who today are in a very difficult situation.”

Mr Biden’s first stop was with 82nd Airborne troops, at a barber’s and dining facility where he sat down and shared some pizza.

“You are the finest fighting force in the world and that’s not hyperbole,. Mr Biden said.

He later addressed a group of soldiers in more formal remarks, telling them the nation “owes you big”.

He also borrowed the words of the late secretary of state Madeline Albright to underscore their place in a fragile moment for the US and its European allies.

“The secretary of state used to have an expression. She said, ‘We are the essential nation,’” Mr Biden told the troops. “I don’t want to sound philosophical here, but you are in midst of a fight between democracy and an an oligarch.”

Mr Biden will be in Warsaw on Saturday for further talks with Mr Duda and others.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal retires from tennis, as Spain defeat in Davis Cup brings curtain down on glittering career

Welcome to the Gemini era by Google

Google's AI chatbot Gemini tells user to 'please die' and 'you are a burden on society' in shock response

The C-Lion1 submarine telecommunications cable being laid to the bottom of the Baltic Sea by cable laying ship "Ile de Brehat" off the shore of Helsinki, Finland, in October 2015

Two undersea internet cables severed amid fears of Russian sabotage

Marius Borg Høiby with his mother Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit

Son of Norwegian princess Marius Borg Høiby arrested on suspicion of rape

Sweden's Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin presents new version of preparedness booklet "If the crisis or war comes"

Sweden issues pamphlet telling citizens how to prepare for potential war as WWIII fears grow

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new doctrine lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.

Putin threatens to use nuclear weapons against the West if Ukraine fires US long-range missiles on Russian soil

Elon Musk 'clashed with Trump's legal adviser'

Elon Musk 'clashes with Trump legal adviser' at Mar-a-Lago over Cabinet picks

Russia has vowed a 'tangible response' to the use of long-range missiles on its territory

Russia vows 'tangible response' if Ukraine uses long-range missiles on its territory - and says 'US would be involved'

Joe Biden has said the US supports Ukrainian sovereignty

Defiant Biden says US 'supports Ukraine's sovereignty' after Russia's WW3 warning over long-range missile threat

Watch dramatic moment Ukrainian nursery teacher takes out incoming Russian missile with rocket launcher

Watch dramatic moment Ukrainian nursery teacher takes out incoming Russian missile with rocket launcher

Fury in Russia as Biden 'allows Ukraine to use long-range missiles'

Kremlin issues stark WWIII warning as Biden sparks outrage after 'allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles in Russia'

Vladimir Shklyarov from the Mariinsky Ballet performs during a dress rehearsal of 'Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux' at the Saddlers Wells theatre in London in 2008

Ballet star Vladimir Shklyarov who criticised Putin’s Ukraine invasion dies in fall from building in St Petersburg

Donald Trump Jr accuses Joe Biden of trying to start WWIII

Donald Trump Jr accuses Joe Biden of trying to start WWIII after 'allowing Ukraine to fire US rockets inside Russia'

Two Brits have died in a collision in Murcia, Spain

Two Brits killed with a third critically injured after crash with 'drugs traffickers' speedboat on Spanish dual carriage-way

120 missiles and 90 drones were launched at Ukraine on Sunday.

Russia launches one of its 'largest air attacks' on Ukraine targeting 'sleeping civilians' and 'critical infrastructure'

Chinese President Xi has told Joe Biden that his country is ready to work with Donald Trump after the President-Elect threatened to impose tariffs on the rival superpower.

Xi tells Biden that China is ready to work with Trump after President-Elect threatened tariffs on rival