President Joe Biden departs Wednesday on one of the highest-stakes presidential trips in recent memory, a moment for the US President to assume leadership of a newly united West.

The trip could still underscore the alliance’s limits in ending the bloodshed in Ukraine, with Western leaders struggling to find ways to halt Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war. 

So far, the punishing Western sanctions haven’t stopped Putin; it’s unclear whether the new steps expected this week, including sanctions on hundreds of members of Russia’s lower legislative body, will be different.

Emergency summits in Brussels, Belgium, of NATO, the European Union and the G7 will focus on displays of cooperation in punishing Russia and providing support to Ukraine as it comes under fire. A stop afterward in Poland is meant to highlight the massive refugee crisis that’s followed Russia’s invasion as well as to reassure allies on NATO’s eastern edge.

For Biden, the last-minute talks are a venue to demonstrate the foreign policy credentials he promised as a candidate when he vowed to restore American leadership and repair broken alliances.

CNN