President Vladimir Putin shows no sign of being willing to engage in diplomacy, US Vice President Kamala Harris said today during a visit to Romania, three weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Harris hailed Romania for welcoming thousands of people fleeing the fighting in neighboring Ukraine, and said Washington was constantly reassessing levels of support for its NATO allies in light of the dynamic situation on the ground.
“From what we know and have seen, Putin shows no sign of engaging in serious diplomacy,” Harris told a news conference with Romanian President Klaus Johannes.
Her visit to Bucharest came a day after talks between the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers failed to escalate the war.
Asked if Washington intends to increase its troop numbers in Romania, the US vice president said: “We will assess on a daily basis the needs we have to maintain stability in this region.”
During his talks with Harris, Johannes stressed the need to launch a NATO battle team in Romania as soon as possible.
Bucharest was Harris’s second stop on a three-day tour of Eastern Europe.
Harris met with Polish leaders and Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw on Thursday and offered US support for calls for an international investigation into possible Russian war crimes. Her visit to Poland came amid a rift between the United States and Poland over the supply of fighter jets to Ukraine.
Polish President Andrei Duda has called for more housing and food aid for Ukrainian refugees and said he had asked Harris to speed up the process for refugees seeking refuge in the United States who may have families there.
About 1.43 million Ukrainians have fled to Poland since the invasion began on February 24. During the same period, more than 291,081 Ukrainians have taken refuge in Romania.
In all, more than 2.3 million people have fled Ukraine by March 10, according to the United Nations, which has warned that up to 5 million people could leave the country. This would make it the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II.
President Joe Biden was expected to sign a law later today on aid to Ukraine in ammunition and other military supplies, as well as humanitarian aid.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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