US President Joe Biden, standing along NATO’s eastern edge in Poland, issued a stern warning to Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Saturday: “Don't even think about moving on one single inch of NATO territory.”
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Biden delivered the notice during a speech in Warsaw. He said the US was committed to the collective protection obligations laid out in NATO’s charter “with the full force of our collective power.”
But Biden made clear the current conflict in Ukraine — not a NATO member — doesn’t require America to become directly involved.
“American forces are not in Europe to engage in conflict with Russian forces, American forces are here to defend NATO allies,” he said.
Biden assures Ukrainians
My message to the people of Ukraine is a message I delivered today to Ukraine's foreign minister and defense minister, who I believe are here tonight: We stand with you. Period, he said.
Biden also said Putin’s actions in Ukraine are “not the actions of a great nation” and called on Russians who were alive during the Soviet Union and heard of it from their families to speak up.
“These are not memories of the past," Biden said. "This is exactly what the Russian army is doing in Ukraine right now."