US President Joe Biden delivered a speech in front of the Royal Palace in Warsaw ahead of the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He addressed the Russians, who want peace, with the words that he does not consider them enemies.
“The United States, the West or the countries of Europe do not want to control Russia, they do not want to destroy it. Millions of Russians who want to live in peace are not our enemies. This is Putin's choice. Each new day of Putin's war is Putin's choice, not yours. He can finish it with one word,” he said.
Biden promised to soon introduce new sanctions and call to account all those responsible for crimes in Ukraine. “Russian soldiers and mercenaries committed war crimes, raped women, bombed houses, stole Ukrainian children. No one should turn their eyes away from these crimes,” the US President stressed.
Biden said that autocrats should not be indulged, they can only be said “no”: “No, you will not take away my freedom. No, you won't take my country. Brute force will never break the spirit of freedom. Ukraine will never become a winning field for the Russian Federation.”
“Putin still doubts that we will support Ukraine, that we will be united. Let no doubt. We won't get tired, we won't back down. The love of Ukrainians for their country will win,” Biden said.
He mentioned the people of Belarus and Moldova in his speech: “The brave people of Belarus right now are resisting the dictatorship, Moldova wants to join Europe and does not want to fall under the influence of the Russian Federation.”
Biden ended his speech with words about the importance of freedom: “There is no higher aspiration than freedom. America knows it – and you know it. Everything we do now, we do so that our children and grandchildren know it. We are on the side of light, not darkness. Liberation, not oppression. Freedom, not slavery."