By KYIV. Dec 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – U.S. President Joseph Biden said he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "share the exact same vision" for peace in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion.
"I think we have – we share the exact same vision, and that a free, independent, prosperous, and secure Ukraine is the vision," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"We both want this war to end. We both want it to end. And as I’ve said, it could end today if Putin had any dignity at all and did the right thing and just said – pulled out. But that’s not going to happen. Not going to happen. It’s not going to happen now. So what comes next?"
Going forward, Biden said, the United States and its allies will focus on continuing to "help Ukraine succeed on the battlefield."
"It can succeed in the battlefield with our help, and the help of our European allies and others, so that if and when President Zelensky is ready to talk with the Russians, he will be able to succeed as well, because he will have won on the battlefield," Biden said.
"He [Putin] thought he could break NATO. He thought he could break the West. He thought he could break the Alliance. He thought he could be welcomed by the Ukrainian people that were Russian-speaking. He was wrong, wrong, and wrong. He continues to be wrong."
Biden said he was not concerned about NATO unity for Ukraine, adding that Putin’s intervention has strengthened the alliance and he has never seen the alliance more united.
"I’m not at all worried about holding the alliance together in NATO and European Union, as well as other nations. I’ve never seen NATO or the EU more united about anything at all. And I see no sign of there being any change," Biden said.
"We all know what’s at stake here; our European partners all the more so. They fully understand it. This is about – we’ve never seen a major invasion of a European country since World War Two. And they see no signs of it – that Putin is going to do anything to change that unless we resist and we help the Ukrainians resist. We all know what’s at stake: the very idea of sovereignty, the U.N. Charter," the U.S. President said.
During his invasion of Ukraine, the president said, Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped to weaken NATO, but "he strengthened NATO," pointing to the decision of Sweden and Finland to join the alliance following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
"And as we reach out to our NATO Allies – our Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State – we get continued support. And not only there, but also from around the world – from Japan and many other countries as well. So I feel very good about the solidarity of support for Ukraine," Biden said.
