President Biden said Thursday that he would be open to meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine—but only “in consultation with my NATO allies.”
“I’m not going to do it on my own,” Biden told reporters at the White House following a three hour meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Biden made the statement after condemning Russia’s invasion of its sovereign neighbor, calling Putin’s actions “sick.”
The President further stressed the unity between the U.S. and its oldest ally, France, in opposing Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, despite acknowledging the two Western allies sometimes have “some slight differences but never in a fundamental way.”
Macron, meanwhile, echoed the U.S. view that Ukraine should not be pressured to accept any compromises with Russia it doesn’t agree with.
“We have to respect Ukrainians to design the moments and the conditions in which they will negotiate about their territory and their future,” the French President said.
Meanwhile, the arrival of Macron and his wife, Brigitte, to the White House marks the first state visit of a world leader during the Biden Administration, and a return to some of the ceremonial diplomacy that had been put on hold because of the Covid pandemic.
