To give more weight to his support for Ukraine and encourage his allies to keep a hard line against Moscow, Joe Biden has decided to drop videoconferences and come to Europe in person.
Shortly after 9 p.m., the American president thus arrived aboard Air Force One on Wednesday in Brussels, as the options for retaliation against Russia are reduced as the war in Ukraine continues.
Exactly one month after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, an unprecedented diplomatic marathon awaits the American president and his partners: in a single day, a NATO summit, a G7 summit and an EU summit European.
If this trip, which will then take Joe Biden to Poland on Friday and Saturday, has a strong symbolic significance, these major meetings should not lead to bursts of sanctions or sensational strategic announcements, like those which have punctuated the past weeks.
Avoid circumvention of sanctions
The Americans will certainly extend this Thursday the list of Russian oligarchs and political figures targeted by their sanctions.
And Joe Biden also promises to strengthen the position of NATO in the long term in the countries of Eastern Europe, now that Vladimir Putin has, in fact, upset the balance of forces inherited from the Cold War.
But for the rest, the White House specifies that it will above all be a question of consolidating the arsenal of sanctions already taken, to avoid attempts to circumvent Moscow.
Joe Biden knows that time is against Westerners, even if the emotion remains strong in the face of the heavy price paid by civilians in Ukraine.
The United States officially accused the Russian army of "war crimes" on Wednesday, and Joe Biden, who believes that his Russian counterpart has his "back to the wall", continues to warn of the potential use of weapons chemical and biological.
Differences over Russian gas
But how can Westerners maintain and even tighten the noose on Russia?
The range of potential economic sanctions, for example, or at least measures that could garner massive support, is shrinking.
On the very sensitive issue of sales of hydrocarbons, Russia's main source of income, coordination between Westerners thus seems to have found its limits.
If the Americans have decreed an embargo on Russian oil, the Europeans do not seem able for the time being to wean themselves off Russian hydrocarbons, and especially gas.
In addition, kyiv continues to demand more outspoken military support, but Westerners come up against the limits set by Joe Biden himself.
The Democrat, who presided over a chaotic withdrawal of his troops from Afghanistan, has said and repeated that he would not send soldiers to Ukraine.
He also vetoed options he said could hasten World War III, such as an overflight ban on Ukraine, which would potentially involve shooting down Russian planes.
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