The President of the United States began his speech in Warsaw, referring to a favorite appeal of Pope John Paul II: "Do not be afraid!"
"We have emerged the great battle for freedom, the battle between democracy and autocracy, between liberty and repression ... In this battle, we need to be clear-eyed. This battle will also not be won in days or months either. We need to steer ourselves for a long fight ahead," – Mr. Biden said.
According to him, Ukraine and its people are at the forefront in the struggle for democracy and freedom.
"Ukraine and its people are fighting for the salvation of their nation, and their courageous resistance is a part of a greater struggle for the central democratic principles that unite all free people”, - he added. “My message to the people of Ukraine is the message I conveyed today to Foreign Minister and Defense Minister of Ukraine, who I believe here tonight: We stand with you! Period".
He also added that Russia had strangled democracy with its invasion of Ukraine, and called Russian President Vladimir Putin's words justifying the war a lie.
"Today, Russia has strangled democracy and seeks to do so elsewhere, not just in its homeland. Under false claims of ethnic solidarity, it devalues neighboring nations. Putin has the audacity to say that he is "denazifying Ukraine." It is a lie. It's just cynical. He knows that. And it's also obscene. President Zelensky was democratically elected. He is a Jewish. His father's family was destroyed during the Nazi Holocaust. And Putin has the audacity, like all autocrats before him, to believe that might make right," - Mr. Biden said.