Ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden is in Poland Wednesday reassuring eastern European allies that the U.S. will defend its NATO partners against any Russian aggression.
"Democracies of the world will stand guard over freedom today, tomorrow and forever," he said during a speech in Warsaw. "That's what's at stake here. Freedom."
President Biden also announced the U.S. would host next year's NATO summit, declaring it "the strongest defensive alliance in the world."
He and Polish President Andrzej Duda are meeting Wednesday with the Bucharest 9 — a group of other leaders from NATO's eastern flank nations.
President Biden's visit to Ukraine required careful, quiet planning
The president's secret trip to Kyiv marked his first since the war began, and it took months of effort.
Those leaders say they want to see some movement from the White House on new plans to shore up security in that region.
"Baltic countries are exposed to the direct threats from Belarus and from Russia," Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said. "So, this is the reason we expect some positive signals regarding our security."
White House officials say the president will use the meeting to reaffirm commitments the U.S. and other NATO allies made to defend NATO's eastern flank.
