hello, everyone. i m biannabianna. this morning, the president met with the leaders of the bucharest nine in warsaw, poland. that s the group of nato countries closest to russia s borders. biden praised the leaders for their continued potter soft ukraine ahead of the one-year anniversary of russia s invasion. as nato s eastern flank, you re the front lines of our collective defense. and you know better than anyone what s at stake in this conflict. not just for ukraine, but for the freedom of democracies throughout european and around the world. cnn s chief white house correspondent, phil mattingly is in warsaw. so, phil, what was the outcome of president biden s meeting there with the warsaw nine? i m sorry, the bucharest nine? you know, bianna, this was a 72-hour period full of clear symbolism, dramatic moments. this meeting was also critically important. it wasn t something that was going to draw a massive headlines, but the president s reassurance, commitment, and
symbolism, dramatic moments. this meeting was also critically important. it wasn t something that was going to draw a massive headlines, but the president s reassurance, commitment, and pledge to nato s eastern-most coalition members was a critical one. particularly in person. and it was also a very substantiative, i m told, meeting behind the scenes. one that is increasingly critical, given just how uneasy these nine nations have been over the course of the last year. keep in mind, this group of nine nations came together in this alliance inside of their nato coalition in 2015 as a result of the russian aggression towards ukraine that led to the legal annexuation of crimea. and the president made very clear, both to the leaders in attendance, but also broadly, about the stakes of the moment. take a listen. we will defend literally every inch of nato. every inch of nato. and this is an important moment. i look forward to the discussion