The President of the United States, Joe Biden, thanked his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, on Friday in a telephone call for his “hospitality” with the 700,000 refugees who have arrived in Poland fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The White House explained in a brief statement that Biden and Duda discussed “Russia’s premeditated and unwarranted invasion of Ukraine” and efforts by Western allies to “impose severe consequences on Russia.”
The president of the United States also reaffirmed his “commitment” to the security of Poland, a NATO member country in which there are 9,000 US soldiers, 4,700 of them deployed in recent weeks to reinforce the eastern flank of the Alliance for the Ukrainian crisis.
Both leaders addressed “the importance of providing humanitarian aid” to Ukraine, with Biden thanking Duda and the Polish people for “their hospitality in receiving and assisting nearly 700,000 Ukrainians and other nationalities who have fled the war so far.”
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.
Poland is the country that has welcomed the most people, some 650,000 Ukrainians, followed by Hungary (145,000), Moldova (103,000), Slovakia (90,000), and Romania (57,000), according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Also to address the Ukrainian crisis, Biden receives this Friday at the White House his counterpart from Finland, Sauli Niinistö, a country allied to the United States but not a member of NATO, at a time when support among Finns is rising. to join the Alliance.