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Biden adds stop in Poland during this week's trip to Europe

President Joe Biden
Posted at 4:23 AM, Mar 21, 2022
and last updated 2022-03-21 09:00:14-04

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has added a stop in Poland to his upcoming trip to Europe for urgent talks with NATO and European allies.

The trip comes as Russian forces concentrate their fire upon cities and trapped civilians in their nearly month-old invasion of Ukraine.

White House officials say Biden will first travel to Brussels, and then travel to Poland, where he will meet with leaders there.

The White House says during Biden's trip to Brussels, he will "discuss international efforts to support Ukraine and impose severe and unprecedented costs on Russia for its invasion" with leaders of NATO, G7 countries and the European Union.

In Poland on Friday, the Biden administration says the president will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda to "discuss how the United States, alongside our Allies and partners, is responding to the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia's unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created."

Poland neighbors Ukraine and has taken in more than 2 million refugees from the fighting.

Poland has been one of the most vocal countries in asking fellow NATO members to consider getting more involved to rein in the bloodshed.

Biden's visit to Poland will come less than a month after Vice President Kamala Harris' visit to the country. While she was there, she thanked the country for opening up to refugees fleeing Ukraine.

"I've been watching or reading about the work of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and so I bring you thanks from the American people," Harris said during a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.