Upcoming trips to Poland slotted for President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could mean the pair will meet once again as soon as later this month.
According to Polish news outlet Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, Zelenskyy plans to visit Poland by the end of the month to present a 10-step peace plan and propose and international conference to address the war in Ukraine.
President Biden said Monday that he does intend to visit Poland, though he said he did not know when that would be in response to reports that suggested his trip would coincide with the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
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Biden first traveled to Poland one month into the war, when he met with Polish officials and Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war-torn nation.
Biden infamously referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "butcher" after meeting with Ukrainian mothers and children outside of Warsaw, roughly 170 miles from the shared northern Ukrainian border.
One month into the war, the U.N. had assessed that 3.7 million people had fled Ukraine to neighboring nations with Poland having received the vast majority with 2.2 million refugees.
The number of Ukrainian refuges spread across Europe has since climbed to 8 million with nearly 6 million internally displaced inside Ukraine.
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Defense officials have been sounding the alarm that Russia is expected to launch a major offensive in Ukraine ahead of the one-year anniversary as it looks to turn the tide in the war.
Russia has seen little gains for months after losing significant territory with the liberation of Kharkiv in September followed by Russia’s withdrawal from the city of Kherson in November.
Moscow has continued to bombard Kyiv through shelling campaigns, and brutal fighting has continued despite winter conditions in Ukraine’s Donbas region.
Kherson also continues to be pummeled by Russian forces despite their withdrawal to the eastern side of the Dnieper River, which U.K. authorities claimed on Wednesday, is part of Russia’s plan to deter a counter-offensive across the river.
Western nations have ramped up arms and equipment supplies to Ukraine as the offensive looms, and Ukraine has said it is ready to launch its own defensive campaign.
Specific details on strategic plans to gain ground by either Russia or Ukraine remains unknown.
