Biden to meet with national security team this weekend on Russia-Ukraine
President Biden will meet with members of his national security team while spending the weekend at Camp David amid ongoing tensions between Ukraine and Russia.
“The president obviously is regularly briefed every day by his team, but he’ll also be engaging with them tomorrow over the course of the weekend as well,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday.
Biden is scheduled to depart for Camp David on Friday evening. The White House has been trying to send a clear message to Russia that any aggression toward Ukraine will be met with a severe response.
The president on Thursday sought to clear up his remarks from a day earlier when he appeared to distinguish between a Russian invasion of Ukraine and a “minor incursion.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met with his Russian counterpart on Friday, reiterated that the U.S. will consider it an attack on Ukraine if even one Russian soldier crosses the border.
As White House officials warn of the imminent threat of Russian aggression, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are pressing the Biden administration to quickly send more military aid to Ukraine.
The administration on Wednesday announced an additional $200 million in defensive security assistance to Ukraine, approved last month and given in the event of an expected attack from Russia.
Blinken, during a visit to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, told the leader that more military aid is “scheduled in the coming weeks.”