Joe Biden claimed that Vladimir Putin had expected his enemies “roll over” when they invaded Ukraine, but was met by the “iron will”, of its allies as the Russian president suspended an important nuclear treaty with America after accusing the West.

After Mr Putin had delivered his state of the nation address in Russia, the American president made a much-anticipated speech at Warsaw’s Royal Castle.

The Polish capital was where Mr Biden spoke a day after his historic and highly secretive visit to Kyiv , Ukraine.

“I can report: Kyiv is strong, Kyiv is proud, it stands tall, and, most importantly, it’s free,” Mr Biden stated Tuesday evening.

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Mr Putin earlier blamed the West and claimed that his country responded with force to “stop it”.

He said that Ukraine had been in discussions with the West regarding weapons supplies prior to Russia’s invasion of its neighbor on February 24, last year.

“I want to emphasize that when Russia tried to find peaceful solutions, they were playing with people’s lives and they were playing dirty games,” Mr Putin stated.

Biden claims that democracy was too strong

As the one-year anniversary for Russia’s invasion approached, both leaders delivered speeches that presented starkly different views of the war.

Before ordering the full-scale invasion, Mr Biden repeatedly accused Mr Putin of underestimating Ukraine in his address.

The US president stated that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was not just a test for Ukraine, but for the entire world. All democracies were being tested.

“The questions that we had to face were simple and profound. Were we going to respond or look the other way?

“Would you rather be strong or weak?”

Mr Biden said, “One year later, we know the answer.”

“We responded, we would have strength, we would be united and the world wouldn’t look the other way.”

Biden stated that Putin ordered his tanks and troops to roll into Ukraine. He thought we would surrender. He was wrong.

“The Ukrainian people were too brave. America, Europe, a group of nations from the Atlantic and Pacific, we were too united.

“Democracy wasn’t strong enough. Putin did not win the easy victory he predicted and saw, but he left behind a trail of ashes and disorganized Russian forces.

“He believed he would be granted the Finlandization of NATO. Instead, he was granted the NATO-ization of Finland and Sweden.”

Finlandization is a term that describes a country’s decision not to challenge its more powerful neighbor in foreign politics, while still maintaining its sovereignty.

“Autocrats are weaker”

He believed NATO would split and fracture. “But NATO was stronger and more united than ever before,” said Mr Biden.

He thought autocrats like him were tough, but leaders of democracies are soft. Then he encountered the iron will America and all nations who refused to accept a world controlled by fear and force.

Biden said: “President Putin faces something today that he didn’t believe was possible one year ago.”

“The democracies around the world have become stronger, not weaker, while the autocrats around the world are becoming weaker and not stronger.”

Biden said that Russia also committed “abhorrent” crimes in Ukraine, targeting civilians with “death & destruction” and using rape to “weapons of war”.

He also accused Russian forces, among others, of taking Ukrainian children and bombing maternity and orphanages.

Biden stated that the US will continue to support Ukraine.

Russia claims that the West has’released genie from the bottle’

Hours before Mr Biden’s address, Putin stated that Russia had decided to “protect its peoples and history” through a “special military operations step-by-step”. He warned that Moscow would “continue to solve the objectives that are before him.”

Since the beginning of the operation last year, Russia’s president has described it as a “specially military operation”.

He said, “I would like repeat, they started war and we used force to stop it.”

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Putin also stated that Russia would suspend its participation in the key nuclear treaty between the US and Russia, which restricts the strategic nuclear arsenals of both sides.

The New START Treaty limits the number of nuclear warheads the US and Russia can use.

Putin stated that Russia is not withdrawing completely from the treaty, and that Moscow must be ready to resume nuclear weapon tests if the US does.

The Russian president took aim against the West, claiming that they had “released the magic from the bottle” in the 10 year period prior to the war by starting other.

To divert attention away from corruption and other socio-economic issues in their own countries, he claimed that Russia was being painted by the West as an enemy of its state.

Concerning weapons, Putin claimed that the West was in negotiations over the supply of heavy military equipment, planes, and anti-aircraft rocket systems before the operation started.

Although Russian forces have experienced three major battlefield reversals in the conflict, they still control around one-fifths of Ukraine.

The Russian president claimed that millions of West Europeans are being “led into a real spiritual disaster”, and he also criticised the “Anglican church’s plan to contemplate the idea of a gender neutral God” in his broad speech.

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On Monday, Mr Biden visited the Ukrainian capital and stated that Washington would provide Kyiv a new $500m military aid package (PS413m). He was photographed walking through the city with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zilenskyy.

Biden stated that Putin believed Ukraine was weak and the West was divided and “thought” he could outlast them, but he was wrong.

According to Mr Zelenskyy, he had long-range weapons discussions with Mr Biden and called negotiations “very fruitful”.