President Joe Biden on Monday thanked the CEOs of several American companies for their support of Ukraine by suspending operations in Russia.
“I am pleased to see American companies do their part by donating to Ukraine and closing their operations (in Russia) without being asked,” Biden said during a meeting with businessmen in Washington.
The president stressed that large businessmen “helped a lot to impose sanctions and generate real costs for the Russian economy,” and assured that this “is giving results.”
As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, the most emblematic brands in the United States, such as Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Google, Apple, Meta (Facebook), or YouTube, announced almost in unison the suspension of its operations and services in Russia.
“It was really important what all of you did,” Biden thanked.
The president reiterated to businessmen the warning made hours before that Russia could be planning massive cyberattacks against the United States.
He assured that the US government “is doing its job to be prepared” for this possibility, but also asked the private sector to “invest everything it can” in cybersecurity.
Two days before Biden travels to Brussels to participate in a NATO summit on Ukraine, the president said that Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to find a “divided” Atlantic Alliance, something that has not happened.
“I can assure you that NATO has not been stronger and more united in its entire history. And that is largely due to Putin,” he said.
He also reiterated his suspicion that Moscow is considering attacking Ukraine with chemical weapons under the pretext that the United States has biological weapons in that country, something that Biden said is “simply false.”
Biden will arrive in Brussels on Wednesday night and on Thursday he will participate in three summits: that of NATO leaders, that of the European Union (EU), and another of the G7, before giving a press conference.
On Friday he will take off for Poland, where his agenda is still unclear, beyond a scheduled meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Saturday before flying back to Washington.