VILNIUS, July 13 ------ US President Joe Biden concluded a NATO summit denouncing Russian President Vladimir Putin as "craven" and promising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky full support even without membership in the military alliance.
Capping the two-day meeting of NATO leaders in Lithuania, on Russia's doorstep, Biden praised the people of the formerly Soviet-occupied country while heralding the addition of Finland to the alliance and the prospective admission of neighbour Sweden.
Biden, who has made unifying NATO countries a foreign policy priority, said Putin had badly underestimated their resolve. "NATO is stronger, more energised and yes, more united than ever in its history. Indeed, more vital to our shared future. It didn't happen by accident. It wasn't inevitable," Biden said to thousands of people at Vilnius University, many of them cheering him on with Lithuanian and American flags. "When Putin, and his craven lust for land and power, unleashed his brutal war on Ukraine, he was betting NATO would break apart. He thought our unity would shatter at the first testing. He thought democratic leaders would be weak. But he thought wrong."
Biden's speech aimed to rally allies and showcase his role on the world stage ahead of a 2024 re-election campaign focused on healing divisions at home and abroad. Sweden's entry to NATO comes as Turkey, which once opposed the admission, is due to get F-16 fighter jets from the United States. Before meeting Biden and other leaders, Zelenskyy criticised NATO for not offering a clear pathway for Ukraine to join the alliance, calling it "absurd". Biden, who opposes Ukraine membership at this time, told reporters before leaving Vilnius that Zelenskyy's concerns were assuaged after G7 leaders made new security pledges. "One thing Zelenskyy understands now is that whether or not he's in NATO now is not relevant" as long as he has the new commitments that have been made at the summit, Biden told reporters. "He's not concerned about that now."
Despite the public goodwill, US officials privately struggled with their counterparts in Vilnius to forge a consensus on where the war was headed, how to bring it to a close, and what assurances to give Ukraine about its future in the Atlantic military alliance, according to four NATO diplomats involved in those conversations. Ukraine has pushed for NATO membership while fighting a Russian invasion unleashed in February 2022. NATO has avoided extending any firm commitments to Ukraine, worried it would risk taking it closer to a full-on war with Russia.
Source: channelnewsasia.com
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