United States President Joe Biden expressed his criticism of Russia's continued bombings of nurseries and hospitals in Ukraine, adding that he is willing to "sit down" with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring an end to the war permanently.
The Democrat's remarks were made during French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to the U.S. During the news conference, Biden noted that there was only one way that the war was going to end, and that was if Moscow decided to "pull out" of Ukraine.
Biden and Macron
The U.S. president added that while he had no immediate plans to contact Putin, he was prepared to enter discussions with the Russian strongman, However, he noted that this was only if the Russian president had an interest in "deciding he's looking for a way to end the war," something Biden said that Putin has not done yet.
Biden continued to say that if that was the case, he would be happy to sit down with the Russian president and see what he wants or has in mind. Lacking that, the U.S. leader said that he and Macron would continue to support Ukraine, as per CNN.
On the other hand, the French leader said that he does not believe that allies should be forcing Ukrainians into a compromise with Russia that would not be "acceptable for them." He added that the people of Ukraine should be the ones to negotiate their territory and their future.
Macron added that France has increased its military support for Ukraine, as well as their economic support and humanitarian support. He said that U.S. support, which includes financial and military weapons, was not only crucial for Ukraine, but also for wider Europe as a whole.
According to Reuters, Biden said that he would only negotiate with Putin in consultation with his NATO allies and would avoid anything that would endanger Ukrainian interests. On the other hand, Macron said that he would continue discussing with the Russian strongman to prevent escalation and attempt to get concrete results.
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Working Together
The two international leaders' meeting is the first state visit of the French leader to the U.S. since Biden was seated in office in early 2021. On top of pledging support for Ukraine, Biden and Macron discussed ways to address economic tensions.
During the talks, Biden also committed to making changes to U.S. legislation passed by Congress this year that resulted in concerns among European officials regarding their economies. The Democrat said that bills that sought to boost U.S. renewable energy and the semiconductor industry have "glitches" that can be fixed.
Furthermore, the U.S. president said that while America and France had occasionally had "some slight differences," they were never in a fundamental way. The Democrat then stressed the need to unite and work together to oppose Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Biden said that the meeting between him and Macron was a showing that their two nations would stand together against the brutality and continue to support Ukraine defend its people and their homes, the New York Times reported.
