Biden speaks on US support for Ukraine

More sanctions and humanitarian aid coming from NATO and US

BRUSSELS (AP) - President Joe Biden and Western allies pledged new sanctions and humanitarian aid on Thursday in response to Vladimir Putin's , but their offers fell short of the more robust military assistance that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded for in a pair of live-video appearances.

Biden also announced the U.S. would welcome up to 100,000 Ukranian refugees - though he said many probably prefer to stay closer to home — and provide an additional $1 billion in food, medicine, water and other supplies.

The Western leaders spent Thursday crafting next steps to counter Russia’s invasion - and huddling over how they might respond should Putin deploy chemical, biological or even a nuclear weapon.

They met in a trio of emergency summits that had them shuttling across Brussels for meetings of NATO, the Group of Seven industrialized nations and the 27-member European Council.

Biden, in an early evening news conference after the meetings, warned that a chemical attack by Russia “would trigger a response in kind.” 

“You’re asking whether NATO would cross. We’d make that decision at the time,” Biden said.

However, a White House official said later that did not imply any shift in the U.S. position against direct military action in Ukraine.

Biden and NATO allies have stressed that the U.S. and NATO would not put troops on the ground in Ukraine.