Joe Biden strongly defended the foreign policy achievements of his presidency by welcoming NATO member states to a summit in Washington on Tuesday, which is being closely watched by allies at home and abroad for evidence that the embattled US president can still lead.
Biden, 81, has endured 12 days of withering questions about his fitness for office, with some of his fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill and campaign donors fearing he will lose the Nov. 5 election after a shaky debate on June 27.
“(Vladimir) Putin wants nothing less, nothing less, than the total subjugation of Ukraine… and to wipe Ukraine off the map,” Biden said, referring to the Russian president. “Ukraine can and will stop Putin.”
The White House hopes he can move on from the speculation with his speech, in which he spoke in a strong, confident voice and avoided any verbal gaffes or signs of confusion that marked his debate performance.
Biden has rejected calls to step aside from his career against Republican Donald Trump, 78, and has vowed to beat him in November. So far, he still has the support of most of his party’s elite.
The president has made re-establishing America’s traditional alliances abroad the centerpiece of his foreign policy after Trump challenged his allies as part of an “America First” approach. The winner in November could have a substantial impact on the future of NATO, Europe and the rest of the world.
Trump has suggested that, if given a second term, he would not defend NATO members if they came under military attack and failed to meet the alliance’s defense spending target of 2 percent of their respective GDP. He has also questioned the amount of aid given to NATO members. Ukraine in its battle against the Russian invasion.
The centerpiece of the NATO summit would be new commitments of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, as well as a bridge for the war-ravaged country to join the 32-member alliance.
Zelenskyy fights for more
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Washington on Tuesday and said he would “fight” for NATO to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses and provide it with more F-16 fighter jets, requests Washington appeared willing to grant.
“We are fighting for additional security guarantees for Ukraine, and these are weapons and finances, political support,” he said in a video on social media.
Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said NATO would announce a new military command in Germany to train and equip Ukrainian troops and appoint a senior representative in kyiv to deepen ties.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the summit would “further strengthen” Ukraine’s path toward NATO membership.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told defense industry leaders in Washington that they would commit to allowing arms manufacturers in Europe and North America to produce more.
He also said NATO has placed an order for Stinger anti-aircraft missiles worth nearly $700 million on behalf of several member states.
Shoulder-fired Stinger missiles have been in high demand in Ukraine, where they have successfully stopped Russian attacks from the air, and in neighbouring European countries that fear they may also need to push back Russian forces.
Zelenskyy will meet with Biden at the White House on Thursday and is scheduled to deliver a speech Tuesday evening. After rejecting calls from some fellow Democrats for Biden to resign, the White House hopes to refocus attention on his ability to govern normally.
Aides said his keynote address at NATO would highlight what his administration sees as a key achievement: a stronger, more united NATO, under Washington’s leadership, with more members and a determination to meet their collective security needs.
This, they say, brings tangible results for American voters: a more secure country, with a stronger international economic position, more alliances and power abroad, and less risk of conflict with its adversaries.
Trump and many Republican allies reject those arguments.
Biden’s staying power?
NATO, celebrating its 75th anniversary, has found a new purpose in opposing Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the devastating war will dominate private talks between the countries’ leaders.
Those leaders, already anxious about the prospect of Trump’s return, came to Washington with new concerns about Biden’s staying power, according to diplomats from their countries.
One described Biden as battered after a difficult political period and said his administration was looking for signs of whether he would survive politically.
Biden will hold a rare solo news conference on Thursday, also aimed at calming concerns.
NATO leaders face political uncertainty in Europe, with paralysis looming in France after gains by left-wing and far-right parties and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition weakening after a poor showing in European Parliament elections.
New British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said as he addressed his first NATO summit that he would honour a campaign pledge to increase UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, but stressed he would only do so when the country could afford it and after a review of its defence strategy.
Ultimately, Ukraine wants to join NATO to protect itself against future Russian attacks, but candidates must be approved by all alliance members, some of whom fear provoking a direct conflict with Russia.
Some members want the alliance to make clear that Ukraine is moving toward NATO “irreversibly” and are interested in language in a summit declaration beyond the alliance’s pledge last year that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO.”
A A senior NATO official said Tuesday that Russia is short of ammunition and troops to launch a major offensive in Ukraine and needs to secure significant supplies of ammunition from other countries in addition to those it already has.
But he estimated that Russia could sustain its war economy for three to four more years and also said that “it will be some time” before Ukraine has amassed the ammunition and personnel it needs to mount its own large-scale offensive operations.
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