Biden willing to discuss end to Ukraine war with Putin but says Russian victory is ‘beyond comprehension’

Mr Biden says the United States and France stand ‘as strong as ever against Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine’

President Joe Biden on Thursday said he would be willing to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin to learn whether he’s willing to end his nearly year-long invasion of Ukraine, but not unilaterally and only after discussions with America’s Nato allies first.

Speaking at a news conference alongside French president Emmanuel Macron after a three-hour bilateral meeting between the two leaders and their respective advisers, Mr Biden said he’d take a meeting with Mr Putin “if he’s willing to talk to find out what he’s willing to do”.

“But I’ll only do it in consultation with my Nato allies. I’m not going to do it on my own,” he added.

Mr Biden’s expression of willingness to meet with the man he has previously called a “war criminal” who “cannot remain in power” at different points since Russia’s war on Ukraine began in late February came as he and Mr Macron pledged to continue American and French support for Ukraine’s fight against Russian invasion forces until Kyiv’s defence forces have emerged victorious.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, Mr Biden and Mr Macron said efforts to provide Ukraine with “provision of political, security, humanitarian, and economic assistance” will continue for “as long as it takes” and reaffirmed both nations’ “continued support for Ukraine’s defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

The leaders said the continued assistance would include “significant resources” for “Ukrainian civilian resilience” during the cold winter months, as well as “stepping up the delivery of air defense systems and equipment needed to repair Ukraine’s energy grid”.

Mr Biden and Mr Macron also said their respective nations intend to keep up provisioning “robust direct budget support” for Kyiv and encouraged international institutions to “scale up” the support already being provided.

The French leader’s visit is the first state visit of the Biden administration, and the second he has honoured with in just over four years.

The meeting between the two leaders was initially expected to last approximately an hour and 45 minutes, but as reporters waited for Mr Biden and Mr Macron to emerge for the previously-scheduled press conference, it stretched on for more than an hour past the time allowed in the president’s public schedule.

When they finally entered the East Room of the White House, Mr Biden opened his remarks with praise for both Mr Macron and the nation he leads, calling the French Republic “one of our strongest partners and our most capable allies” and referring to Mr Macron as “a friend”.

“We share the same values and ... a core common agenda that we address all challenges together,” he said. “And occasionally we have some slight differences but never in a fundamental way.”

Mr Biden added that the US and France “stand together with all our Nato allies,” as well as the European Union and Group of Seven, “as strong as ever against Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine”.

“We're continuing to strongly support the people of Ukraine as they defend their homes and their families and their sovereignty and territorial integrity against Russian aggression which has been incredibly brutal,” he said. “Today, we reaffirm that, as I said, we're going to stand together against this brutality and we'll continue the strong support for the Ukrainian peoples that defend their homes and their families and their nurseries, their hospitals ... against Russian aggression”.

The American leader also thanked his French counterpart for welcoming over 100,000 Ukrainian refugees to his shores, adding that such actions were “a mark of who you are as a people”.

“Putin thinks that he can crush the will of all those who oppose his imperial ambitions by attacking civilian infrastructures in Ukraine, choking off energy to Europe as a driver of crisis, [and] exacerbating [a] food crisis that's hurting very vulnerable people not just in Ukraine, but around the world. And he's not going to succeed,” he said.

When his American counterpart finally yielded the floor to him, Mr Macron said he would not elaborate on France’s work in Ukraine because Mr Biden had “perfectly” described the longtime allies’ joint efforts.

“We clearly condemn this war immediately. We lead all the diplomatic actions to condemn this war, the war crimes committed by Russia on the Ukrainian soil, and we support both the Ukrainian army that is resisting [and] the Ukrainian population resisting as well.” he said.

The French president said the united Franco-American front of support for Ukraine comes from both nations being made of “values and history”.

“What is at stake in Ukraine is not just very far from here, in a small country, somewhere in Europe, but it's about our values. And it’s about our principles, and it’s about what we agreed together in the UN Charter,” he said, adding later that the US and France would “never urge Ukrainians to make a compromise which will not be acceptable for them”.

Mr Biden added that the “one way” for the war to end in a “rational way” is for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “pull out of Ukraine” but he said he has no plans to engage with the Russian leader in the immediate future.

“He's paying a very heavy price for failing to do it, but he's inflicting incredible, incredible carnage on the civilian population of Ukraine. I mean, nurseries, hospitals, children's homes, it's sick, what he's doing, but the fact of the matter is, I have no immediate plans to contact Mr. Putin,” he said, adding later that the idea that Russian forces would ever be victorious in Ukraine is “beyond comprehension”.