U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said on March 11 that Russian President Vladimir Putin shows no sign of being willing to engage in diplomacy, during a visit to Romania where she praised the country for taking in thousands of people fleeing the fighting in neighboring Ukraine.
"From everything that we know and have witnessed, Putin shows no sign of engaging in serious diplomacy," Harris said at a news conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.
“Romania has been extraordinary in the generosity and the courage that you have shown," Harris said.
She added that Washington was aware of the "particular challenges" faced by the Eastern European country geographically.
SEE ALSO: 'Global Economic Pariah': U.S. Revokes Russia's Favored Trade Status, To Deny Borrowing Rights At IMFAsked if Washington intends to increase the number of troops in Romania, Harris said, "We will on a daily basis assess the needs that we have to maintain stability in this region."
Bucharest was Harris' second stop on a three-day trip through Eastern Europe.
Harris met with Polish leaders and Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw on March 10 and offered U.S. support to calls for an international war-crimes investigation against Russia.
Her visit to Poland came amid controversy over a Polish plan to supply fighter jets to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been asking the West for access to Soviet-era MiG-29 jets, some of which remained in former Warsaw Pact countries after they joined NATO.
Washington, however, has rejected the Polish plan outright.