NATO summit: Biden says Russian invasion of Ukraine has united NATO, others

BRUSSELS — U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders of Western countries have gathered in Belgium for three summits to address Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Update 2:15 p.m. EDT March 24: President Joe Biden in his remarks after the emergency NATO summit said Russian President Vladimir Putin was wrong when he assumed that the international body would be divided over Ukraine. Instead, the Russian invasion has made NATO, the European Union and the Group of Seven are more unified, The Associated Press reported.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also said the world has united in its response to the Russian invasion.

“We are united in our commitment to see these sanctions through as long as necessary and to keep reviewing them for effectiveness,” Scholz said, according to the AP.

Biden also said that Russia should be removed from the Group of 20, CNN reported. Previously the White House had not stated that members of the G20 would want Russia removed. Russia’s ambassador in Jakarta said that Putin “wants to go” to the G20 summit in Indonesia scheduled for November.

Biden announced that he plans on meeting some refugees from Ukraine when he travels to Poland on Friday.

“I plan on attempting to see those folks, as well as I hope I’m going to be able to see — guess I’m not supposed to say where I’m going, am I. I hope I get to see a lot of people,” Biden said, CNN reported.

Update 1:35 p.m. EDT March 24: President Joe Biden has announced $1 billion in humanitarian aid for Ukrainians. He also made the new sanctions issued against members of Russia’s Duma officials.

Update 12:09 p.m. EDT March 24: NATO will be sending more equipment to Ukraine to defend against an attack. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that they will provide “detection equipment, protection and medical support as well as training for decontamination and crisis management,” The Associated Press reported.

The NATO allies are also adding to their “preparedness and readiness” in their own countries.

Four new battlegroups will be deployed to Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, the AP reported. Four other groups are already in the Baltic States and Poland. A battlegroup has between 1,000 and 1,500 members.

Update 10:51 a.m. EDT March 24: NATO said it will reinforce its chemical, biological and nuclear defense systems after Russia had said that the U.S., NATO allies and Ukraine are readying the weapons.

But the accusations are false and the “rhetoric” is frequently used by Russian President Vladimir Putin when he plans on using them himself.

“We’ve seen before that this way of accusing others is actually a way to try to create a pretext to do the same themselves,” Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, according to CNN.

“Our top military commander General Walters has activated NATO’s chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense elements, and allies are deploying additional chemical and biological and nuclear defenses to reinforce our existing and new backing groups,” Stoltenberg said, according to CNN.

NATO has issued a joint statement to “enhance our preparedness and readiness for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.”

The discussion will happen at the next NATO summit in Madrid this summer.

Update 10:08 a.m. EDT March 24: The member of the G7 nations have begun meeting after the NATO countries posed for their traditional “family portrait.”

The G7, or Group of Seven, is made up of leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the U.S, CNN reported. Russia had been a member of the panel when it was known as the G8 but was suspended in 2014 when it annexed Crimea.

Before the G7 session, President Joe Biden said the NATI alliance is “as strong and united as it has ever been” and will continue to support Ukraine.

“NATO leaders met today on the one-month anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine to reiterate our strong support for the Ukrainian people, our determination to hold Russia accountable for its brutal war, and our commitment to strengthening the NATO Alliance,” Biden said, according to CNN.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed NATO via a videoconference. He asked NATO for “military assistance without limitations” and said his country needed anti-air and anti-ship weapons, The Associated Press reported. He posed the question, “is it possible to survive in such a war without this?”

Zelenskyy also said Ukraine is on a fine line between two opposing forces.

“It feels like we’re in a gray area, between the West and Russia, defending our common values,” Zelenskyy said, the AP reported. “This is the scariest thing during a war — not to have clear answers to requests for help!”

A U.S. official said Western nations are discussing the possibility of providing anti-ship weapons.

Update 9:17 a.m. EDT March 24: The G7 nations have restricted the Russian Central Bank from using gold in transactions, The Associated Press reported.

Russia has about $130 billion in gold reserves.

At the same time, the U.S. has announced new sanctions against Russian elites.

About 328 members of the Russian State Duma, the country’s lower parliament, along with 48 state-owned defense companies and dozens of other elites are now the targets of new sanctions, the AP reported. The Duma itself is also being sanctioned as a whole.

>>Related: Russia attacks Ukraine: US to welcome up to 100K Ukrainians

Original report: According to The Associated Press, the events – which included meetings of NATO, the Group of Seven and the European Union – kicked off Thursday as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reached the one-month mark. Biden is scheduled to attend all three meetings before holding a news conference, the AP reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also is slated to deliver an address at the NATO summit remotely via video, according to the AP. He previously said he wants NATO to “declare that it will fully assist Ukraine to win this war” by providing the country with weapons, the news agency reported.

“Come to your squares, your streets. Make yourselves visible and heard,” Zelenskyy said in a video late Wednesday, according to the AP. “Say that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters.”

During the meetings, Poland and nearby nations hope to learn more about how the U.S. and European countries will help them deal with Russian aggression and provide assistance to Ukrainian refugees, the AP reported. About 2 million of the 3.5 million people who have fled Ukraine are now in Poland, officials said. Biden is scheduled to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Poland on Friday, according to the news agency.

European leaders also hope to receive help from the U.S. amid an energy crisis that has worsened since the war began, the AP reported.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Photos: Biden, NATO allies gather for summit on Russian invasion of Ukraine U.S. President Joe Biden, center left, French President Emmanuel Macron, center, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, center right, pose during a group photo during an extraordinary NATO summit at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, March 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)