Biden vows to hold line

Defend ‘from the Baltic to the Black Sea’

US President Joe Biden met NATO and European leaders in Warsaw on Wednesday, with the allies vowing to strengthen defences “from the Baltic to the Black Sea”, as the UN secretary-general condemned Russia’s invasion.

Mr Biden attended a meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and the heads of eastern European countries in a bid to shore up support for Kyiv nearly a year after Russian forces rolled into Ukraine.

The leaders of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia joined the talks amid widespread concern in their countries that the conflict could spill over.

In a statement after the meeting, the leaders vowed to “reinforce our deterrence and defence posture across the eastern flank from the Baltic to the Black Sea”. Mr Stoltenberg said “we cannot allow Russia to continue to chip away at European security”.

The UN General Assembly met for a special session on Wednesday to debate a motion backed by Kyiv and its allies calling for a “just and lasting peace”. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the session the invasion of Ukraine was “an affront to our collective conscience”, while Moscow’s UN ambassador took aim at the West, saying it is “ready to plunge the entire world into the abyss of war” to defeat Russia.

In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin held talks with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi, who was visiting Moscow after Washington and NATO voiced concern that China could be preparing to supply Russia with weapons.

“We will not be overwhelmed by threats and pressure from third parties,” Mr Wang said.

A readout following the meeting published by Chinese state news agency Xinhua quoted Mr Wang saying China was willing to “deepen political trust” and “strengthen strategic co-ordination” with Russia.

China would “uphold an objective and fair position and play a constructive role in solving the crisis through political means”, it said.

On Tuesday, Mr Putin announced the suspension of Moscow’s participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty and promised to press on with the campaign in Ukraine, during a state of the nation address.

Speaking in Warsaw, Mr Biden said the decision on the treaty was a “big mistake”.

Russian politicians on Wednesday approved the suspension of the 2010 deal – the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the world’s two main nuclear powers.

Mr Putin’s announcement on New START met with international condemnation, though Russia’s foreign ministry later said Moscow would continue to comply with the treaty’s restrictions in a “responsible approach”.

Beijing has sought to position itself as a neutral party in the war, while maintaining close ties with strategic ally Russia.

It has said it is “deeply concerned”, and that the conflict is “intensifying and even getting out of control”.

Mr Wang is on the last stop of a European tour during which he also met Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Moscow said on Wednesday that Beijing had presented its views on paths towards a “political settlement” in Ukraine following Mr Wang’s visit.