President Joe Biden has said the United States must continue to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"My message to President Putin who I've known for a long time is simple. We will not walk away," Biden said in his State of the Union address to both chambers of Congress on Thursday evening.
"If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you he will not," the Democrat politician warned.
Biden is once again calling on Congress to authorize further US aid for Ukraine.
"Ukraine can stop Putin - if we stand by Ukraine and supply the weapons," said the 81-year-old. Ukraine is not asking for US soldiers and he will not send any, the US president emphasized.
The Republicans wanted the US to relinquish its leading role in the world, he said.
Biden also condemned statements made by his predecessor Donald Trump on the NATO defence alliance. "It's dangerous and it's unacceptable," he warned. Trump recently said at an election campaign appearance that he would not provide any US support to NATO allies with low defence spending in the event of a Russian attack.
"We have to stand up to Putin," said Biden.
The US has been considered Kiev's most important ally over the past two years since the start of the Russian war against Ukraine. The US government has supplied Ukraine with huge quantities of weapons and ammunition. For some time now, however, there have been no more supplies from the US.
A new aid package of around $60 billion for Ukraine has passed the Senate. However, it is now stuck in the second chamber, the House of Representatives, where Republicans are blocking it.
