TOKYO — President Joe Biden told fellow Indo-Pacific leaders assembled for a four-country summit Tuesday that they were navigating \u201ca dark hour in our shared history\u201d due to Russia\u2019s brutal war on Ukraine and he urged the group to make a greater effort to stop Vladimir Putin\u2019s aggression.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is more than just a European issue. It\u2019s a global issue,\u201d Biden said as the \u201cQuad\u201d summit with Japan, Australia and India got under way.<\/p>\n
While the president did not directly call out any countries, his message appeared to be pointed, at least in part, at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with whom differences persist over how to respond to the Russian invasion.<\/p>\n
Unlike other Quad countries and nearly every other U.S. ally, India has not imposed sanctions or even condemned Russia, its biggest supplier of military hardware.<\/p>\n
With Modi sitting nearby, Biden made the case that the world has a shared responsibility to do something to assist Ukrainian resistance against Russia\u2019s aggression.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re navigating a dark hour in our shared history,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Russian brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe and innocent civilians have been killed in the streets and millions of refugees are internally displaced as well as in exile.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world has to deal with it and we are,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Later, in comments to reporters after a one-on-one meeting with Modi, Biden said they discussed Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine \u201cand the effect it has on the entire global world order.\u201d Biden added that the U.S. and India will continue to consult \u201con how to mitigate these negative effects.\u201d<\/p>\n
But in a reflection of India\u2019s relationship with Moscow, the Quad leaders\u2019 post-summit joint statement made no mention of Russia.<\/p>\n
In his comments, Modi made no mention of the war in Ukraine, instead ticking off several trade and investment programs that he discussed with the president.<\/p>\n
The White House has been effusive in its praise of several Pacific countries, including Japan, Singapore and South Korea, for stepping up to hit Russia with tough sanctions and export bans while offering humanitarian and military assistance to Kyiv.<\/p>\n
For several of the bigger Asian powers, the invasion has been seen as a crucial moment for the world to demonstrate by a strong response to Russia that China should not try to seize contested territory through military action.<\/p>\n
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, taking note of Russia\u2019s aggression in Ukraine, told the other leaders: \u201cWe cannot let the same thing happen in the Indo-Pacific region.\u201d<\/p>\n
The White House has been disappointed with the relative silence of India, the world\u2019s biggest democracy.<\/p>\n
Biden has asked Modi not to accelerate the buying of Russian oil as the U.S. and other allies look to squeeze Moscow\u2019s energy income. The Indian prime minister made no public commitment to get off from Russian oil, and Biden has publicly referred to India as \u201csomewhat shaky\u201d in its response to the invasion.<\/p>\n
Facing Western pressure, India has condemned civilian deaths in Ukraine and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. Yet it also has compounded fallout from a war that has caused a global food shortage by banning wheat exports at a time when starvation is a growing risk in parts of the world. The Indian prime minister did not address Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine in his public remarks at the summit.<\/p>\n
Biden has been making his case to Modi for weeks.<\/p>\n
The two spoke about the Russian invasion during a virtual Quad leaders\u2019 meeting in March, and last month they had a short video conversation when Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with their Indian counterparts in Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it won\u2019t be a new conversation,\u201d White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said ahead of the summit. \u201cIt will be a continuation of the conversation they\u2019ve already had about how we see the picture in Ukraine and the impacts of Russia\u2019s brutal invasion of Ukraine on a wider set of concerns in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Biden and Modi may avoid public confrontation over how to respond to Russia\u2019s aggression, the issue remains a major one as the U.S. and allies are looking to tighten the pressure on Putin., said Michael Green, senior vice president for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt appears pretty clear the Biden administration is not looking for trouble with India and that most of these difficult conversations will be in private,\u201d said Green, who was a senior National Security Council aide during the George W. Bush administration.<\/p>\n
The summit came on the final day of Biden\u2019s five-day visit to Japan and South Korea, Biden\u2019s first trip to Asia as president.<\/p>\n
It also marked new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese\u2019s first moment on the global stage. The new premier flew to Tokyo on Monday right after being sworn into office. The center-left Labor Party defeated Prime Minister Scott Morrison over the weekend, ending the conservative leader\u2019s nine-year rule<\/p>\n
Biden, Modi and Kishida welcomed Albanese to the club and expressed awe at his determination to join the informal security coalition so quickly after assuming office.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how you\u2019re doing it,\u201d Biden, who looked a bit worn from his own travel, told Albanese. The U.S. president joked that it would be OK if the new prime minister happened to fall sleep during the meeting.<\/p>\n
Biden was to meet separately with Albanes later Tuesday. The four-way partnership has become increasingly relevant as Biden has moved to adjust U.S. foreign policy to put greater focus on the region and to counter China\u2019s rise as an economic and security power. He held bilateral talks with summit host Kishida on Monday.<\/p>\n
Albanese told his fellow Quad leaders he was dedicated to the group\u2019s mission to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have had a change of government in Australia, but Australia\u2019s commitment to the Quad has not changed and will not change,\u201d Albanese said.<\/p>\n
Looming over the Quad leaders\u2019 talks was Biden\u2019s blunt statement on Monday that the U.S. would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan, saying the burden to protect Taiwan is \u201ceven stronger\u2019 after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. The White House insists that Biden\u2019s unusually forceful comments about Taiwan did not amount to a shift in U.S. policy toward the self-ruled island that China claims as its own.<\/p>\n
Asked by the reporters at the summit on Tuesday if his comments on Taiwan a day earlier were meant to mark a policy change, Biden simply replied, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some modest initiatives were announced by the Quad leaders, including a new effort to provide pediatric COVID-19 vaccines to countries most in need and a program to help nations improve security and environmental awareness of their territorial waters.<\/p>\n
The Quad last year pledged to donate 1.2 billion vaccine doses globally. So far, the group has provided about 257 million doses, according to the Biden administration.<\/p>\n
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Associated Press writers Zeke Miller in Washington, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed reporting<\/p>\n