President Joe Biden will travel to Europe next week, the White House announced on Tuesday.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced the president would travel to Brussels, Belgium, to attend a NATO summit on March 24 and a European Council Summit to discuss the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine.
“The president is a big believer in face-to-face diplomacy so it’s an opportunity to do exactly that,” Psaki said during the White House press briefing on Tuesday.
The White House declined to say whether or not the president would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as Psaki said that detailed plans were still underway.
Biden’s trip to Europe takes place just days after Vice President Kamala Harris visited Poland and Romania in an effort to signal solidarity with NATO.
Biden traveled to Europe in June 2021 to try to strengthen NATO and reset the relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But the president was unable to dissuade Putin from invading Ukraine the following year.
The president will return to Europe this year to rally more support for Ukraine and the NATO alliance and to further punish Putin for invading Ukraine.
Biden signed a bill Tuesday afternoon to continue funding the government, which also included $13.6 billion in funding to respond to the escalating war in Ukraine.
“Putin’s aggression against Ukraine has united people across America, united our two parties in Congress, and united a freedom-loving world, and there’s an act with urgency and resolve that we are doing right now,” he said.
He boasted that the United States had already spent $1.2 billion in funding for humanitarian and military aid for Ukraine.
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