E-Paper
Putin doesn't know way out of war: Biden as US revives WW-2 era Act for Ukraine
Ukraine war: Joe Biden made the critical comments as Putin yet again defended Russia's offensive, saying Moscow was defending the “motherland”.
Russian president Vladimir Putin does not know his way out of the war, Joe Biden said on Monday as the United States tries to speed up aid for Ukraine, which is in its 11th week of Europe’s worst conflict in decades. Calling Putin “a very calculating man”, the US president said, the Russian leader "doesn't have a way out right now, and I'm trying to figure out what we do about that”.
Biden, who was speaking at a Washington fundraiser, said Putin’s mistaken belief was that NATO and the European Union will break up due to the war, news agency Reuters reported.
Signing the Lend Lease Act 2022, to help aid the war-battered country, he added: “I’m signing a bill that provides another important tool in our efforts to support the government of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in their fight to defend their country and their democracy against Putin’s brutal war. And it is brutal.”
The Lend Lease Act, which helped the US send aid to its allies during World War-2, has been revive
d by Washington for Kyiv. Even though the US did not enter the war till 1941, it helped its allies with this Act, a government statement said.
Acknowledging the toll of the conflict on Ukrainians, Biden was quoted in a White House statement: “Every day, Ukrainians pay with their lives, and they fight along — and the atrocities that the Russians are engaging in are just beyond the pale. And the cost of the fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is even more costly. That’s why we’re staying in this.”
“I want to thank members of Congress here for getting this passed and everyone who supported the bill. And the bill demonstrates that support for Ukraine is pivotal at this moment,” he added.
“And with Putin’s war once more bringing wanton destruction into Europe, and to — to reaffirm the enduring commitment to the future grounded in democracy, human rights, and peaceful resolution to disagreements, I’m now going to sign this bill,” the US president said.
The Russian president on Monday led the Victory Day celebrations in the country to mark the World-War 2 win’s 77th anniversary as Moscow demonstrated its military might.
"You are fighting for the Motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of World War Two. So that there is no place in the world for executioners, castigators and Nazis,” he said in his address, comparing the Ukraine conflict with the World War-2.
(With inputs from Reuters)
