US Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Poland and Romania from March 9 to 11 to demonstrate US “support” for NATO’s eastern flank, in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, her office reported Friday.
In a statement, his spokeswoman Sabrina Singh explained that Harris will visit Warsaw and Bucharest, where he will meet with the “leaders of Poland and Romania” to discuss “the response to the premeditated and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
Singh said that “the visit will demonstrate the strength and unity of NATO and US support for allies on the eastern flank,” where Washington has deployed more troops in recent weeks.
With the Polish and Romanian authorities, he will address “support for the people of Ukraine” through security, economic and humanitarian assistance, in addition to “the severe economic consequences” that Western countries have agreed to Moscow.
Harris will also discuss mechanisms for the United States to support countries neighboring Ukraine in hosting refugees fleeing war.
According to the UN, more than 1.2 million people have left Ukraine since the invasion ordered last week by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the vast majority have sought refuge in neighboring countries.
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, thanked his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, on Friday in a telephone call for his “hospitality” towards the refugees who have arrived in Poland fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has embarked on a tour of Belgium, Poland, Moldova, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia in the context of the Ukrainian crisis.