President Joe Biden is preparing to head to Europe next week for a three-country trip intended to bolster the international coalition against Russian aggression as the war in Ukraine extends well into its second year.
White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan framed the trip as a chance to “showcase the president’s leadership on the world stage,” during a White House briefing on Friday.
“We have indeed regained our global standing as a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress and security. This trip will reflect that progress,” he added.
The main focus of the five-day visit will be the annual NATO summit on Tuesday and Wednesday, held this year in Vilnius, Lithuania, as Biden continues to tout the alliance as stronger than ever. There, the president will also hold a bilateral meeting with the Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda.
In conclusion of the summit, Biden will give an address Wednesday evening “about his vision of a strong, confident America flanked by strong, confident allies and partners taking on the significant challenges of our time,” Sullivan said.
Biden will travel to the United Kingdom on Sunday to kick off the trip. While there, he will meet with King Charles at Windsor Castle as well as U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
With King Charles, the president will participate in a forum on “mobilizing climate finance, especially bringing private finance off the sidelines for clean energy deployment and adaptation in developing countries,” Sullivan said.
The president did not attend Charles’s coronation in May, sending first lady Jill Biden to represent the United States.
In June, Biden hosted British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the White House, where the two leaders pledged continued cooperation in defending Ukraine and to strengthen critical mineral supply chains. Sunak’s office said he looked forward to welcoming Biden and that their meeting would build on earlier visits.
Biden will round out the trip with a stop in Helsinki, Finland, where he will meet with the president of Finland and participate in the U.S.-Nordic Leaders Summit. Sullivan said leaders will discuss technology, health, climate and clean energy.
Sweden and Finland both applied for NATO membership following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. The moves ended both Nordic nations’ long-standing policy of military nonalignment, potentially due to fear of becoming a target of Moscow. Finland, for instance, shares a more than 800-mile border with Russia.
Turkey and Hungary originally objected to both Finland and Sweden’s bids before signing off on Finland, clearing the way for the country to become the alliance’s newest member in April. However, both Turkey and Hungary have kept their opposition to Sweden’s entry.
NATO had hoped the road to Sweden’s membership would be smoothed out before the alliance’s summit, but thus far Turkey and Hungary are continuing their resistance to the Nordic country’s bid. The treaty organization requires the unanimous approval of all members to expand.
“NATO is also larger than ever, with Finland having joined the alliance and Sweden soon to follow. This is important for the security and safety of the American people,” Sullivan said.
In a show of solidarity, Biden hosted Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at the White House on Wednesday this week, calling the prime minister a “valued friend” while continuing to push for Sweden’s accession into the 31-member security alliance.
NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg met with top officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland on Thursday to continue to clear the path for Sweden’s membership.
Following the meeting, Stoltenberg said they “made good progress.”
“We all want to complete this process as soon as possible,” he added.
The NATO meeting comes at the latest critical point in the war. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says counteroffensive and defensive actions against Russian forces are underway as Ukrainian troops start to recapture territory in the southeastern part of the country, according to its military leaders.
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary-general, visited the White House on June 13, where he and Biden made clear that the Western alliance was united in defending Ukraine. Biden said during that meeting that he and other NATO leaders will work to ensure that each member country spends the requisite 2% of its gross domestic product on defense.
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