WASHINGTON — As the timeline for the deployment of a multinational security force led by Kenya into a gang-ridden Haiti continues to face delays, President Joe Biden and his Kenyan counterpart on Thursday defended the mission, saying they believe the force can help bring peace and stability to the volatile Caribbean country.

Biden also addressed for the first time publicly why he’s refusing to commit American troops to Haiti. The country is closer to Florida than Nairobi, but Washington has had a long-tortuous history with Haiti ever since the United States deployed Marines on the heels of a presidential assassination at the start of the century and then stayed for 19 years.

“We concluded that for the United States to deploy forces in the hemisphere, it just raises all kinds of questions that can be easily misrepresented by what we’re trying to do, and be able to be used by those who disagree with us and against the interest of Haiti and the United States,” Biden said during a joint news conference with his East African counterpart.

“Haiti is in an area of the Caribbean that is very volatile,” he later added. “And we’re in a situation where we want to do all we can without us looking like America once again is stepping over, deciding, ‘This is what must be done.’ Haitians are looking for help, as well as the folks in the Caribbean are looking for help.”

Biden and first lady Jill Biden are hosting Kenyan President William Ruto and his wife, Rachel, on a state visit this week to mark 60 years of U.S.-Kenyan relations. The Rutos arrived in the U.S. on Monday, the same day that a six-member assessment team made up of senior security planners from Nairobi landed in Port-au-Prince to determine if preparations were in place for the first contingent of 1,000 Kenyan police officers to be deployed.

U.S. congressional and Haitian sources confirmed to The Miami Herald and McClatchy that the team found a shortage in the equipment needed — from armored vehicles to helicopters — to do medical evacuations should casualties arise. The reality immediately dashed hopes of any announcement about the force’s arrival during the news conference.

Neither Ruto nor Biden committed a date to the deployment. Nor did either address the concerns raised about the mission’s lack of readiness.

Ruto also deflected a question about whether the Kenyans will be engaged in actual operations with the Haitian police or serve more as a static force, protecting key government infrastructures like the airport and seaport, which have come under attack. Sources have told the Herald and McClatchy that this remains a matter of debate even as they await the Kenyan government to provide the U.S. Security Council with several documents including its rules of engagement ahead of deployment.

“We have clear modus operandi, how we are going to relate with the situation on the ground that has been agreed under the United Nations framework,” Ruto said. “So we are looking forward to this deployment because we believe that the women and children in Haiti deserve peace like all other women and children and people around the world.”

Haiti featured prominently at the joint news conference even though neither leader mentioned the country and its ongoing gang insurgency during their remarks earlier Thursday on the White House lawn.

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