As vice president, Kamala Harris will hold a series of face-to-face meetings with allies and partners from around the world at the Munich Security Conference next week, with the goal of deterring Russian aggression in Ukraine. The trip will serve as a major diplomatic test for her during her time in the White House.
Officials from the White House said Harris will deliver a speech, define U.S. policy at a number of public events, and reaffirm America’s commitment to its NATO allies during his visit. Leaders from Germany, the EU, and NATO will be in attendance, but it is not expected that Harris will meet with counterparts from Russia and China.
The summit, which was initiated by Western nations during the height of the Cold War to handle military crises, is scheduled to take place in Munich from February 18-20, at a time when Western nations and Russia are engaged in a high-stakes conflict over Ukraine.
During the trip, the official stated, “We will be interacting with our allies and partners, as well as building upon the extensive engagement that is already underway.”
During a time when Ukraine faces the possibility of a large-scale Russian invasion, Harris will “reaffirm American support to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” according to a senior administration official.
Russia has gathered approximately 100,000 soldiers near the Ukrainian border. It has denied any plans for an invasion, but authorities in the United States believe an attack might take place within days or weeks.
Ukraine joined NATO in the early hours of Tuesday, and then attempted to retake the Crimean peninsula, which Russia had seized in 2014. President Vladimir Putin warned for the second time in a week that European countries would be automatically drawn into a war with Russia in which “there will be no winners” if Ukraine joined NATO and attempted to retake the Crimean peninsula, which Russia had seized in 2014.
President Joe Biden has warned to slap the most punitive penalties ever levied against Russia if the country deploys soldiers across the border, but he has also stated that the United States prefers dialogue over military action in the region. The Russian foreign minister visited Germany on Monday, where he stated that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will be shut down in the event that Russia invades Ukraine.
The International Push of Senator Kamala HarrisWhile Harris’s public appearance and effectiveness on a range of important issues at home have been heavily criticised, particularly by the opposition Republican Party, she is more often hailed as a trailblazer, the rare female leader from the United States, on the international stage.
In recent months, Biden has urged his vice president, Hillary Clinton, to engage directly with foreign leaders and to establish personal relationships with important American allies, according to White House sources. The upcoming trip, which will take her to Munich, is expected to be a major diplomatic test for her vice presidency as well as her most high-profile international trip yet.
Harris attended Biden’s White House meeting with Scholz, which was attended by Scholz as well.
An administration official stated that “the vice president is beginning to illustrate how she is a vital role in executing our foreign policy across the board” in a more obvious and visible manner.
In solo phone calls with foreign leaders and travel to Central America, Asia, and Europe, the vice president has sought to bolster her foreign policy credentials in order to advance administration priorities, which include reducing migration from Central America into the United States and bolstering international support to counter China’s growing global influence.
The meeting, which will take place in the Bavarian capital at its regular setting, will bring together approximately 35 heads of state and government. Because to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was held virtually in the year 2021.
Biden has attended the conference as a U.S. senator, as vice president, and even while he was not in public office, according to the conference website. Last year, he delivered a virtual address to the conference, declaring that the age of “America-first” diplomacy, as practised by Donald Trump, had come to an end.
