President Joe Biden walks on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One, Friday, March 18, 2022, in Washington. Biden is spending the weekend at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has added a stop in Poland to his trip this week to Europe for urgent talks with NATO and European allies, as Russian forces concentrate their fire upon cities and trapped civilians in a nearly month-old invasion of Ukraine.

Biden will first travel to Brussels and then to Poland to meet with leaders there, press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Sunday night.

Poland is a crucial ally in the Ukraine crisis. It is hosting thousands of American troops and is taking in more people fleeing the war in Ukraine — more than 2 million — than any other nation in the midst of the largest European refugee crisis in decades.

Biden will head to Warsaw for a bilateral meeting with President Andrzej Duda scheduled for Saturday. Biden will discuss how the U.S., along with its allies and partners, is responding to “the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created,” Psaki said.

On Monday ahead of his trip, Biden discussed the war with European leaders. President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom took part in the hour-long call that began at 11:14 a.m. and ended at 12:12 p.m.

White House officials have said Biden has no plans to travel to Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while in Poland this month, briefly crossed into neighboring Ukraine in a show of solidarity alongside that country’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba. Poland has been one of the most vocal countries in asking fellow NATO members to consider getting more involved to rein in the bloodshed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine largely has united the U.S. and NATO and European allies, as well as allies in Asia and elsewhere. The United States and European governments see Moscow’s military aggression as a threat to their security and strategic interests.

Biden and NATO have said repeatedly that while the U.S. and NATO will provide weapons and other defensive support to non-NATO member Ukraine, they are determined to avoid any escalation on behalf of Kyiv that risks a broader war with Russia.

The Pentagon on March 9 rejected a Polish proposal for providing Ukraine with MiG fighter jets via a NATO air base, saying allied efforts against the Russian invasion should focus on more useful weaponry and that the MiG transfer with a U.S. and NATO connection would run a “high risk” of escalating the war.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has pleaded for the U.S. to provide his military with more aircraft and advanced air-defense systems. NATO and the United States have rejected his appeals to establish a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine to suppress Russian air power, saying it would put Western forces in direct conflict with Russian ones.

Determined resistance by Ukrainian fighters when Russian tanks and troops rolled into Ukraine in late February quickly defeated Russian forces’ attempts to storm Ukraine’s capital and unseat the westward-looking government. Denied an easy and early victory, Russia’s military is reverting to the scorched earth tactics of its past offensives in Syria and Chechnya, and pounding population centers with airstrikes and artillery barrages that leave civilians like those in the port city of Mariupol able to safely venture out for food or water, to bury the dead, or to flee.

After Biden rallied European allies to join in sweeping sanctions against Russia over the invasion at the outset, his tasks now include dealing with some NATO members that are pushing for more involvement directly in the fighting. That includes proposals by Poland for peacekeepers.

Biden’s trip includes a summit Thursday of NATO leaders, who will use the meeting to look at strengthening the bloc’s own deterrence and defense, immediately and in the long term, to deal with the now openly confrontational Putin.

That gathering is intended not just to show NATO’s “support to Ukraine, but also our readiness to protect and defend all NATO allies,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

“And by sending that message, we are preventing an escalation of the conflict to a full-fledged war between NATO and Russia,” Stoltenberg said.

Front-line NATO members on the alliance’s eastern flank are also asking for advanced U.S. and British air defense systems to guard against the kind of missile and air assaults Russia is unleashing on Ukraine.

“We have to strengthen our eastern flank of NATO. We have been talking about this for years, but now it’s time for action,″ Estonia’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, told CNN’s ”State of the Union.”

She added: “We need some more capabilities to support ourselves and defend ourselves by air defense systems, what is definitely necessary here, but also the troops that are present that act as a deterrent also to the Russian military.”

Noting that Russia is firing missiles “from such a long range that they can also reach Paris from where they are shooting right now,” Kallas said European leaders must “understand that this defense is our common issue, and it’s not a theoretical discussion, but issue in real life.”

Biden also will participate in a European Council summit to discuss the allies’ sanctions on Russia and humanitarian efforts for the millions of Ukraine’s people displaced by Russia’s attacks, Psaki said last week.

His agenda includes a meeting of leaders of the the Group of Seven countries to discuss the punishing financial and economic penalties that the West and its allies have leveled on Russia over its invasion, Psaki said.

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Casa Blanca: Biden visitará Polonia en viaje a Europa esta semana

El presidente Joe Biden camina por el jardín sur de la Casa Blanca antes de abordar el Marine One, el viernes 18 de marzo de 2022, en Washington. Biden está pasando el fin de semana en su casa en Rehoboth Beach, Del. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

WASHINGTON (AP) — El presidente Joe Biden agregó una parada en Polonia a su viaje esta semana a Europa para conversaciones urgentes con la OTAN y sus aliados europeos, mientras las fuerzas rusas concentran su fuego sobre ciudades y civiles atrapados en una invasión de Casi un mes a Ucrania.

Biden viajará primero a Bruselas y luego a Polonia para reunirse con los líderes allí, dijo la secretaria de prensa Jen Psaki en un comunicado el domingo por la noche.

Polonia es un aliado crucial en la crisis de Ucrania. Está recibiendo a miles de soldados estadounidenses y está recibiendo a más personas que huyen de la guerra en Ucrania, más de 2 millones, que cualquier otra nación en medio de la mayor crisis de refugiados europeos en décadas.

Biden se dirigirá a Varsovia para una reunión bilateral con el presidente Andrzej Duda programada para el sábado. Biden discutirá cómo Estados Unidos, junto con sus aliados y socios, está respondiendo a “la crisis humanitaria y de derechos humanos que la guerra injustificada y no provocada de Rusia contra Ucrania ha creado”, dijo Psaki.

El lunes antes de su viaje, Biden discutió la guerra con los líderes europeos. El presidente Emmanuel Macron de Francia, el canciller Olaf Scholz de Alemania, el primer ministro Mario Draghi de Italia y el primer ministro Boris Johnson del Reino Unido participaron en la llamada de una hora que comenzó a las 11:14 a.m. y terminó a las 12:12 p.m.

Funcionarios de la Casa Blanca han dicho que Biden no tiene planes de viajar a Ucrania. El secretario de Estado Antony Blinken, mientras estaba en Polonia este mes, cruzó brevemente a la vecina Ucrania en una muestra de solidaridad junto al ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de ese país, Dmytro Kuleba. Polonia ha sido uno de los países más vocales al pedir a otros miembros de la OTAN que consideren involucrarse más para frenar el derramamiento de sangre.

La invasión de Ucrania por parte del presidente ruso Vladimir Putin ha unido en gran medida a Estados Unidos y la OTAN y a los aliados europeos, así como a los aliados en Asia y en otros lugares. Los gobiernos de Estados Unidos y Europa ven la agresión militar de Moscú como una amenaza a su seguridad e intereses estratégicos.

Biden y la OTAN han dicho repetidamente que si bien Estados Unidos y la OTAN proporcionarán armas y otro apoyo defensivo a Ucrania, que no es miembro de la OTAN, están decididos a evitar cualquier escalada en nombre de Kiev que arriesgue una guerra más amplia con Rusia.

The Pentagon on March 9 rejected a Polish proposal for providing Ukraine with MiG fighter jets via a NATO air base, saying allied efforts against the Russian invasion should focus on more useful weaponry and that the MiG transfer with a U.S. and NATO connection would run a “high risk” of escalating the war.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has pleaded for the U.S. to provide his military with more aircraft and advanced air-defense systems. NATO and the United States have rejected his appeals to establish a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine to suppress Russian air power, saying it would put Western forces in direct conflict with Russian ones.

Determined resistance by Ukrainian fighters when Russian tanks and troops rolled into Ukraine in late February quickly defeated Russian forces’ attempts to storm Ukraine’s capital and unseat the westward-looking government. Denied an easy and early victory, Russia’s military is reverting to the scorched earth tactics of its past offensives in Syria and Chechnya, and pounding population centers with airstrikes and artillery barrages that leave civilians like those in the port city of Mariupol able to safely venture out for food or water, to bury the dead, or to flee.

After Biden rallied European allies to join in sweeping sanctions against Russia over the invasion at the outset, his tasks now include dealing with some NATO members that are pushing for more involvement directly in the fighting. That includes proposals by Poland for peacekeepers.

El viaje de Biden incluye una cumbre el jueves de líderes de la OTAN, que utilizarán la reunión para analizar el fortalecimiento de la propia disuasión y defensa del bloque, de inmediato y a largo plazo, para hacer frente al ahora abiertamente confrontativo Putin.

Esa reunión tiene la intención no solo de mostrar el “apoyo de la OTAN a Ucrania, sino también nuestra disposición a proteger y defender a todos los aliados de la OTAN”, dijo el secretario general de la OTAN, Jens Stoltenberg, a “Face the Nation” de CBS el domingo.

“Y al enviar ese mensaje, estamos evitando una escalada del conflicto a una guerra en toda regla entre la OTAN y Rusia”, dijo Stoltenberg.

Los miembros de primera línea de la OTAN en el flanco oriental de la alianza también están pidiendo sistemas avanzados de defensa aérea estadounidenses y británicos para protegerse contra el tipo de misiles y ataques aéreos que Rusia está desatando contra Ucrania.

“Tenemos que fortalecer nuestro flanco oriental de la OTAN. Hemos estado hablando de esto durante años, pero ahora es el momento de actuar”, dijo el primer ministro de Estonia, Kaja Kallas, al programa “State of the Union” de CNN.

Agregó: “Necesitamos algunas capacidades más para apoyarnos y defendernos mediante sistemas de defensa aérea, lo que definitivamente es necesario aquí, pero también las tropas que están presentes que actúan como un elemento disuasorio también para el ejército ruso”.

Al señalar que Rusia está disparando misiles “desde un alcance tan largo que también pueden llegar a París desde donde están disparando en este momento”, Kallas dijo que los líderes europeos deben “entender que esta defensa es nuestro problema común, y no es una discusión teórica, sino un problema en la vida real”.

Biden también participará en una cumbre del Consejo Europeo para discutir las sanciones de los aliados a Rusia y los esfuerzos humanitarios para los millones de personas de Ucrania desplazadas por los ataques de Rusia, dijo Psaki la semana pasada.

Su agenda incluye una reunión de líderes de los países del Grupo de los Siete para discutir las sanciones financieras y económicas punitivas que Occidente y sus aliados han impuesto a Rusia por su invasión, dijo Psaki.