Biden to visit Brussels; attend NATO, EU summits

Washington [US], March 16 : US President Joe Biden will travel to Belgium to attend an extraordinary NATO summit on March 24 along with participating in a European Council Summit, a White House statement informed on Tuesday.
"President Biden will join an extraordinary NATO summit on March 24 to discuss ongoing deterrence and defence efforts in response to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine as well as to reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our NATO Allies," said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
"President Biden will also join a scheduled European Council Summit to discuss our shared concerns about Ukraine, including transatlantic efforts to impose economic costs on Russia, provide humanitarian support to those affected by the violence, and address other challenges related to the conflict," she further said.
"In these testing times, our transatlantic action is more important than ever. @POTUS [Biden] will join EU leaders Thursday 24 March to discuss support for #Ukraine and its people, strengthening transatlantic cooperation in responding to Russia's aggression against Ukraine @ZelenskyyUa [Volodymyr Zelenskyy]," European Council President Charles Michel said in a tweet.
However, whether President Biden would travel to Poland to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy could not be confirmed with Press Secretary Psaki saying that "We are still working through the final details of President Biden's trip," Sputnik reported.
Earlier, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg informed on Tuesday that he is convening an extraordinary summit of the alliance on March 24 over the situation in Ukraine.
"I have convened an extraordinary Summit on 24 March at #NATO HQ. We will address #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine, our strong support for Ukraine, and further strengthening NATO's deterrence & defence. At this critical time, North America & Europe must continue to stand together," Stoltenberg tweeted.
The development comes as the fourth round of talks between Russia and Ukraine resumed in Belarus.
"Consultations on the main negotiation platform renewed. General regulation matters, ceasefire, withdrawal of troops from the territory of the country," Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's aide tweeted.
Meanwhile, Russia has imposed sanctions against US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other US officials. Russia is also imposing sanctions against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and over 300 lawmakers. Moscow also imposed sanctions against Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Defense Minister Anita Anand.
As Russian troops continued their advance towards Kyiv, the city imposed a new curfew from 8 pm (Local Time) on March 15 until 7 am on March 17. Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said that the residents are only allowed to go outside to head to the bomb shelters.