The US and its allies were prepared for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and that the “dictators” would pay the price for their aggression, the president said. Joe Biden He will speak in his first State of the Union address on Tuesday.
According to excerpts from his speech released by the White House, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “war was premeditated and unprovoked,” Biden would add.
“He thought that the West and nato will not answer. And, he thought he might divide us here at home,” Biden would say. “Putin was wrong. We were ready.”
The war in Ukraine has forced the White House to rework the part of speech traditionally focused on domestic issues. In a high-profile display of solidarity with Kyiv, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Oksana Markova, was invited to address.
“Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson – when dictators don’t pay the price for their aggression, they create more chaos,” Biden would say.
Given Biden’s domestic crisis, there are fears that the war in Ukraine could turn into a wider conflict. During the campaign, Biden said that his decades of foreign policy experience have left him best equipped to guide America’s role in the world. But America’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan shook public confidence in his leadership.
However, Biden’s speech is still largely focused on domestic concerns as his administration prepares for this fall’s midterm election that favors the Republican Party.
Biden’s second speech to a joint session of Congress comes at a perilous moment for his presidency. Most Americans remain deeply pessimistic about the state of the pandemic-weary country and economy, and remain skeptical about his leadership and those of him and his fellow Democrats, the polls show.
He plans to unveil a new economic plan after his earlier proposal, “Build Back Better,” was rejected by Republicans and enough Democrats to ruin it.
“We have a choice,” Biden plans to say. “One way to fight inflation is to lower wages and make Americans poorer. I have a better plan to fight inflation.”
He will call for measures to boost US manufacturing, strengthen supply chains, promote renewable energy sources and reduce the federal budget deficit. It is a set of policies that may have been intended to appeal to moderates such as West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, whose opposition to Back Better – out of deficit and inflation concerns – effectively killed the social spending plan.
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.
Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint.
download
Our App Now!!