The American president has welcomed the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to the White House.
Joe Biden said he currently has no plans to contact Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, he is prepared to talk to him if the Russian leader shows interest in ending the war in Ukraine and only in consultation with NATO allies.
“I have no immediate plans to contact Putin,” Biden said at a press conference with Macron.
“I am prepared to talk to Putin, if in fact there is an interest in him deciding that he is looking for a way to end the war. He hasn’t done that yet,” said the head of state.
Otherwise, Biden declared that he had not expected that the Russian forces would be so brutal in Ukraine.
Biden said that support will continue in the face of Russian aggression, which he adds has been “extremely brutal”. He added that “I knew Russia was brutal, but I didn’t expect them to be as brutal as they are so far.”
“Today we reaffirm that we will stand together against this brutality. We will continue this strong support for the Ukrainian people as they defend their homes, their families, their hospitals, their nurseries, their sovereignty, their integrity, against Russian aggression,” he declared.
He adds that France has welcomed more than 100 thousand Ukrainian refugees and on this occasion he thanked Macron.
“Attacking civilian infrastructure, destroying energy in Europe to drive up prices, worsening food crisis. This is hurting very vulnerable people not only in Ukraine, but around the world. But he will not succeed. We will work together to hold Russia accountable for their actions and mitigate the global impacts of Putin’s war on the rest of the world,” the US president said.
The US president says the country is helping Europe and that a new deal has been agreed with France on nuclear energy.