Quad Summit: 'Ukraine Crisis is a Global Issue,' Says Joe Biden in Leaders' Meet

Biden added, "as long as Russia continues the war, we are going to be partners and lead a global response."

US President Joe Biden at the Quad Summit in Tokyo, seen here with Indian PM Narendra Modi and Australian PM Anthony Albanese.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@AlboMP)

United States President Joe Biden, along with state heads of Australia, India, and Japan, attended the fourth Quad meet in Tokyo on Tuesday, 24 May.

Stressing that the crisis unfolding in Ukraine is a not a European, but a global one, the US President stated:

"US will be a strong, steady, and enduring partner in Indo-Pacific. We are Indo-Pacific powers. As long as Russia continues the war, we are going to be partners and lead a global response. We stay together for the shared values and vision we have."

Lambasting Russian President Putin for the war, which he said was Putin's attempt to extinguish a culture, he added that the global food crisis may worsen by Russia blocking Ukraine from exporting its grains.

His opening remarks on Tuesday, 24 May, expressed future aspirations for the grouping, with the US president saying, "We've shown that Quad is not just a passing fad, we mean business. We're here to get things done for the region, and I'm proud of what we're building together and I look forward to our vital partnership flourishing and for many years to come."

He reiterated the Quad's commitment of 'ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific', and said that the US aspires to "strengthen economic cooperation to deliver inclusive growth and shared prosperity."

Announcements at the Quad Summit 2022

According to a statement issued by the White House, the following announcements will be welcomed at the summit in Tokyo:

• The Quad leaders will welcome a major maritime initiative, the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA). IPMDA will look to offer a near-real-time, integrated, and cost-effective maritime domain awareness picture, transforming the ability of regional partners in the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean to fully monitor the waters on their shores.

• Quad leaders are proud to open applications for the Quad Fellowship, which will sponsor 100 American, Australian, Indian, and Japanese students to study in the United States each year for graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

• All four nations will bolster their global health security measures in light of the COVID-19 health crisis. The leaders will announce initiatives such as vaccine donations and collective approaches to and preparation for new variants.

• The Quad leaders will also unveil new efforts on green shipping, energy supply chains, disaster risk reduction, and the exchange of climate information services.

• Other announcements to be made at the Tokyo summit will be pertaining to areas such as critical and emerging technologies, cybersecurity, space, infrastructure and, humanitarian aid, and disaster relief.

Second In-person Summit

The Quad summit, the second in-person meeting of these leaders, is taking place under the shadow of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

On Monday, PM Modi held separate meetings with a number of leading Japanese CEOs, besides a roundtable with Japanese business leaders and an interaction with the Indian community.

The Modi-Biden meeting in Tokyo will be the second face-to-face meeting of the leaders within a year. PM Modi will also hold separate bilateral meetings with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida and newly-elected Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.