President Biden will condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in tonight's State of the Union address, excerpts of the speech released by the White House reveal.
According to CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, Biden plans to say, "[Putin] rejected efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO wouldn't respond. And, he thought he could divide us here at home. Putin was wrong. We were ready."
Joey Garrison, the White House correspondent for USA Today, tweeted a screenshot that included a larger excerpt from the same section of the speech, including the following:
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"Throughout our history, we've learned this lesson — when dictators do not pay the price for their aggression, they cause more chaos. They keep moving. And, the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising."
Earlier today, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko provided some support for Biden's claim that Putin will "keep moving" when Lukashenko displayed a map that could indicate plans to move Russian troops into Moldova.
Despite his strident rhetoric, it's unclear what concrete steps Biden might take to stop Putin. The U.S. has so far declined to implement the no-fly zone requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, citing concerns about potential confrontations between U.S. and Russian forces.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed on Monday that the U.S. is still importing oil and gas from Russia.
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