Report: Biden ‘Pressed’ Baltic Leaders over Russia - Wall Street Journal

 US President Joe Biden “pressed” the leaders of the Baltic nations over their calls for Russia to be defeated in Ukraine, an informed source told The Wall Street Journal.

Biden raised the issue with the presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia during his visit to Poland's capital Warsaw in late February, the outlet reported, citing a person briefed on the conversations.

The source did not reveal exactly what the US president said, but noted that Biden's words left “doubts among officials as to whether Washington believed that [Ukraine’s victory on the battlefield] was a realistic goal".

In its article, The WSJ pointed to “concerns” among Kiev’s allies in Eastern Europe about “the thinking emerging in Western capitals that Ukraine should prepare at some stage for negotiations with the Kremlin".

During his trip to Poland, Biden together with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attended a summit of the so-called Bucharest Nine (B-9) countries, which comprise Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia as well as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.