Joe Biden arrives in Europe for summits as Zelenskiy says Ukraine awaits ‘meaningful steps’

 
INA-sources
 
Joe Biden has arrived in Europe for a four-day trip with the aim of keeping up pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, amid sanctions fatigue and splits over energy sanctions among US allies.
 
Biden will take part in an emergency Nato summit, a G7 summit and a meeting of the European Council in Brussels on Thursday – all groups that largely welcome a return of US leadership and engagement in Europe after the nadir of the Donald Trump administration.
 
The Biden team is hoping to translate that goodwill into political stamina over what could well be a long, gruelling conflict.
 
On Wednesday night, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine was “waiting for meaningful steps” from the three gatherings and listed so-far unheeded requests, such as a no-fly zone, aircraft, and tanks. “Our firm position will be represented at these three summits. At these three summits we will see: Who is a friend, who is a partner, and who betrayed us for money.”
 
Biden’s trip will also, to some extent, be a lap of honour for the US president’s success so far in keeping allies and partners together in confronting Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
 
Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, told journalists on Air Force One on the way to Brussels: “What we would like to hear is that the resolve and unity that we’ve seen for the past month will endure for as long as it takes.”
 
But ratcheting up pressure on the Kremlin as the atrocities in Ukraine worsen will be far harder than the concerted measures taken so far. There are fundamental splits within the EU on whether to follow the US in imposing an embargo on energy imports from Russia, with Germany, which is heavily dependent, adamantly against. The chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has argued it would hurt Germany more than Russia.
 
Source: The Guardian