Protesters greeted President Biden in Poland on Tuesday by pleading with him to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, something the U.S. had ruled out.
The group held up a sign that said “Mr. Biden send F-16 to Ukraine,” and a woman shouted into a microphone as the president’s motorcade swept through Warsaw to the presidential palace.
“Mr. Biden, we know you are here and we know you hear us,” the woman said, later chanting: “F-16/for Ukraine.”
Mr. Biden is meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda one day after his surprise visit to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The trip is designed to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and discuss further international assistance for Kyiv.
Mr. Biden has pledged artillery, ammunition, anti-armor systems and air defense radars for Ukraine, yet the U.S. package has not included the F-16 jets that Mr. Zelenskyy says are critical to winning the war.
The U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and the head of Poland’s International Policy Bureau, Marcin Przydacz, are expected to join Mr. Biden and Mr. Duda for the meeting in Warsaw.
They plan to discuss Ukraine and the NATO alliance. The U.S. has about 10,000 military personnel on rotation in Poland, so that will likely be a topic of discussion between Mr. Biden and Mr. Duda.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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