US President Joe Biden, who will be in Poland on Friday to discuss the ongoing Ukraine crisis with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, will visit the town of Rzeszow near the border with Ukraine, the White House has announced, a day after the Democrat arrived in Belgium on a 4-day Europe visit.
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“President Biden will be greeted by Polish President Duda in Rzeszow, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Ukrainian border,” the White House said in a statement.
While Biden's travel to Poland was pre-scheduled as part of his emergency visit to Europe, which was prompted by the Russia-Ukraine war, this is for the first that the White House has disclosed the specifics of his planned stay in the European nation.
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Poland, being one of Ukraine's neighbours, is sheltering lakhs of refugees from that country, who have fled as a result of the war. The visit to Rzeszow will also make Biden the second top US official to travel to the town; secretary of state Antony Blinken was there earlier this month to meet the refugees.
{{/usCountry}}Poland, being one of Ukraine's neighbours, is sheltering lakhs of refugees from that country, who have fled as a result of the war. The visit to Rzeszow will also make Biden the second top US official to travel to the town; secretary of state Antony Blinken was there earlier this month to meet the refugees.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Biden, in the first leg of his emergency visit, attended emergency summits of both the North Atlantic Treaty Organziation (NATO) and the Group of 7, in Brussels, on Thursday.
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Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin, while announcing the offensive, described it as a ‘special military operation.’ He has repeatedly justified the invasion, saying it is necessary to ‘de-Nazify’ Ukraine.
(With agency inputs)