In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, US President Joe Biden touted his domestic accomplishments while acknowledging 40-year high inflation. He warned that the ongoing war will continue to “take its toll” on the world economy, citing the economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 outbreak and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Look, we’ve made a lot of progress and we have an incredible opportunity ahead of us but we know that families are still struggling with higher prices,” he stated before the Port Authority of New Hampshire.

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Biden singled out Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “big reason for inflation.”

“The invasion of Ukraine has driven up gas prices and food prices all over the world. The two major breadbaskets of wheat in the world are Ukraine and Russia … What we saw in the most recent inflation data was last month about 70% of the increase in inflation was a consequence of Putin’s price hike, because of the impact on gas and energy prices,” he said.

Biden went on to say that he was doing everything he could to keep prices down, citing the release of gas from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves and his collaboration with US allies and partners, which drew cheers.

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“The fact is that we are in a situation where the war in Ukraine is going to continue to take its toll on the world economy. It’s going to take its toll on energy. It’s going to take its toll relative to food … An awful lot of people are hurting. It makes a big difference, it makes a big difference, the cost of a dozen eggs, the cost of a gallon of gasoline, it matters,” Biden said.

“We’re going to build this economy from the bottom up and the middle out,” the President continued.

After landing in Portsmouth, media on the tarmac asked Biden if he planned to send more weaponry to Ukraine. According to the reporters, Biden was positive and merely said “yes” before heading to his motorcade.

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Shipments from the United States’ security assistance package “have begun arriving” in Ukraine in recent days. According to CNN, the shipment contains 300 Switchblade drones, 18 155mm Howitzer artillery, 11 Mi-17 helicopters, and heavier-duty weaponry.

The protective equipment is intended to protect the Ukrainian military against chemical assaults.

An aircraft carrying US security support arrived in Europe yesterday. The security support is a component of the $800 million drawdown agreement inked last week. According to a statement made to the media on Tuesday by a senior US defence official, perhaps seven more flights bringing security assistance are slated to land in Europe in the coming hours.