US President Joe Biden has personally thanked American troops stationed in Poland, near the border with Ukraine, calling them the "finest fighting force in the history of the world", during his tour of Europe.
US President Joe Biden in Poland on Friday, talking with members of the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division, who are working alongside Polish allies on the Alliance's eastern flank, in the city of Rzeszow. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/ AFP
After meeting NATO and EU leaders in Brussels, Biden flew to Poland to see the humanitarian crisis that is developing as millions of Ukrainians escape Russia's assault on their homeland.
The United States has bolstered its forces in Europe in response to the war in Ukraine, pushing the number of US service members in Europe to more than 100,000 for the first time in decades.
Biden told the troops in Poland they were doing an important job: preserving democracy.
"I came for one simple basic reason: to say thank you," Biden said in an address to service men and women stationed in Rzeszow, Poland, just 100 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you for your service. Thank you for who you are, and thank you for what you're doing."
Biden shook hands and shared pizza with the troops before making his address.
"None of you have to be here," he told them, adding they were only 1 percent of the population representing the whole nation.
"You all decided to be here for your country - every one a volunteer, every single one of you stepped up. And the 99 percent of the rest of the country, including me, owes you - and owes you big."
Poland welcomes over 2 million refugees
The region has served as a gateway to Europe for refugees fleeing war in Ukraine, with Poland welcoming more than 2 million Ukrainian refugees.
Biden also spoke with local leaders working to ease the humanitarian crisis.
"The suffering that's taking place now is at your doorstep, you're the ones risking sometimes your lives and all you know to try to help."
Joe Biden to meet with Ukrainian refugees in Poland
Biden will hold talks with Poland's President Andrzej Duda as part of his two-day visit to the country.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski said the visit was a valuable sign of US support.
"It's hugely important, American presence and American support for Ukraine's defence effort, but also for solidifying defensive abilities of the country's eastern flank of NATO," he said.
"This is hugely important now because we are living in the times of big danger."
EU, US partnership to undercut Russian energy
Following meetings in Brussels, the United States and European Union announced a new partnership to reduce the continent's reliance on Russian energy, an initiative that will put further pressure on Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.
After meeting with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin used energy to "coerce and manipulate his neighbours" and used the profits to "drive his war machine".
Biden said the partnership with the EU would severely impact Russia, and help Europe reduce its dependency on fossil fuels.
"This initiative focuses on two core issues: one, helping Europe to reduce its dependency on Russian gas as quickly as possible, and secondly, reducing Europe's demand for gas overall," he said.
The US will work to supply 15 billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the European Union this year, as the EU aims to cut its dependency on Russian gas by two-thirds this year and end all Russian fossil fuel imports by 2027.
-ABC