Vice President Kamala Harris opened meetings at the Munich Security Conference on Friday by recommitting the U.S. to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and warning Russia it will face “severe consequences” if it invades Ukraine.
She said the U.S. is still pursuing diplomacy and discussions with Russia.
“We remain, of course, supportive of diplomacy … but we are also committed to taking corrective actions to ensure there will be severe consequences in terms of the sanctions we have discussed, and we know the alliance is strong in that regard,” Ms. Harris said at a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
It is the most high-stakes overseas mission by Ms. Harris as President Biden’s backup on the foreign policy front.
The high-profile conference in Germany is unfolding at a tense time for eastern Europe. Russia has more than 150,000 troops along the Ukraine border and may invade at any time. U.S. and European leaders are scrambling to avoid that outcome through diplomacy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he wants assurances that Ukraine will not join NATO, but western nations say that is up to Kyiv.
Mr. Stoltenberg called NATO “the cornerstone” for European and transatlantic security, a sentiment echoed by the U.S. vice president.
“Right now we are obviously dealing with being concerned about what’s happening in Ukraine. As a member of NATO, we feel very strongly about and will always be committed to the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Ms. Harris said. “This is a dynamic moment in time. So the work that we are doing on a daily basis and sometimes on an hourly basis to strengthen relationships, to check-in in terms of our strategic imperatives, is critically important. And that is one of the reasons I am here.”