WASHINGTON — President Biden said Thursday he may skip a planned visit to Poland to mark the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — despite US and Polish officials already confirming the trip.
“I haven’t made a decision when I’m going to Poland or even if for certain I am going to Poland,” the president told reporters at the White House before departing for an event in Florida.
It’s unclear whether Biden was unaware that the trip was already effectively confirmed — or if he decided to change course and forgo the visit.
Biden indicated firmly, however, that he would not cross the Polish border into Ukraine, as repeatedly requested by Kyiv leader Volodymyr Zelensky, who has hosted the leaders of most other major NATO countries in a show of defiance against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President Biden said Thursday he may skip an anticipated trip to Poland. AP“There’s a possibility I may go to Poland, but that’s all,” Biden said when a reporter asked about a possible side trip across the border.
NBC reported this week that three officials said Biden intended to visit Poland to mark the anniversary of Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022, invasion.
Marcin Przydacz, the foreign policy adviser to Polish President Andrzej Duda, told the country’s public TV last week that “we have agreed with the American side that we will announce the date of this visit in due course.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington on Dec. 21, 2022. ZUMAPRESS.com
Biden visited Poland last year but declined to enter Ukraine. via REUTERSBiden previously visited Poland in March 2021 and said “they” wouldn’t let him cross into Ukraine.
Russia’s invasion has been met with surprisingly stiff resistance from the NATO-backed Ukraine government. The Kremlin is expected to launch a new onslaught on its smaller neighbor in the coming weeks after the disputed annexation in October of four partially occupied Ukrainian provinces.
