VILNIUS, July 12 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having a “cowardly lust for land and power” at the end of a NATO summit on Wednesday where Ukraine won new security guarantees from the United States and its allies for its defense against Moscow.
Members of the world’s most powerful military bloc offered the possibility of long-term protection a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described as “absurd” a refusal to offer an invitation or a timetable for Ukraine’s entry into NATO.
Ukraine has been pushing for quick membership as it battles a Russian invasion unleashed in February 2022 that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.
Instead, a G7 statement The world’s most industrialized group of countries has launched a framework for bilateral negotiations to provide military and financial support, share intelligence and promise immediate action if Russia strikes again.
“Our support will last long into the future. It is a powerful statement of our commitment to Ukraine,” Biden said alongside Zelenskiy and the leaders of the G7, which is made up of the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. .
Speaking in Vilnius, Lithuania, at the end of the two-day meeting at Russia’s gate, biden said Putin had seriously underestimated the resolve of the US-led military alliance.
“NATO is stronger, more energized and yes, more united than ever in its history. In fact, more vital to our shared future. It didn’t happen by accident. It was not inevitable,” Biden said.
“When Putin, and his cowardly lust for land and power, unleashed his brutal war against Ukraine, he was betting that NATO would fall apart… But he thought wrong.”
Swallowing his disappointment at the lack of a membership timetable, Zelenskiy praised NATO’s “unprecedented and practical support for Ukraine” and said Ukraine had obtained “unequivocal clarity that Ukraine will be in NATO” at the summit.
He tweeted: “I think we will be in NATO once the security situation stabilizes. Simply put, when the war is over, Ukraine will be invited to NATO and Ukraine will clearly become a member of the Alliance. I didn’t think of any another classify.”
In a meeting with Zelenskiy, Biden promised him that the United States was doing everything it could to meet Ukraine’s needs and acknowledged Zelenskiy’s frustration with the scale and speed of support.
“Her resilience and her determination have been a model for the whole world to see,” Biden said. “I look forward to the day when we have the meeting to celebrate your official NATO membership.”
“The bad news for you is that we are not going anywhere. You’re stuck with us,” Biden joked, prompting a laugh from Zelenskiy.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan had said Biden would discuss long-range missiles with Zelenskiy when they met.
Speaking to reporters later, Biden said: “One thing Zelenskiy understands now is that whether or not he is in NATO now is not relevant,” as long as he has the commitments that have been made at the summit. “He’s not worried about it now.”
Zelenskiy told Biden that he wanted to thank “all Americans” for the billions of dollars in aid his country had received.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace saying it had told Ukraine that its international allies were “not Amazon” and that kyiv needed to show gratitude for arms donations to persuade Western politicians to give more.
Zelenskiy said: “We were always grateful to the UK, the prime ministers and the defense minister because the people are always supporting us.”
Britain, France, Germany and the US have been negotiating with Kiev for weeks on a broad international framework of support, covering modern and advanced military equipment such as fighter jets, training, intelligence sharing and cyber defence.
In return, Ukraine would promise better governance, including through judicial and economic reforms and greater transparency.
Wednesday also saw the first session of a new NATO-Ukraine Council, a format designed to bring closer cooperation between kyiv and the 31-nation alliance.
‘POTENTIALLY VERY DANGEROUS’
NATO relies on mutual security guarantees in which an attack on one is an attack on all, and has carefully avoided extending firm military commitments to Ukraine, worried that it would risk bringing it closer to all-out war with Russia.
Ukraine has been wary of any less-binding security “guarantee,” as Russia’s invasion has already trampled on the so-called Budapest Memorandum under which international powers pledged to keep the country safe in exchange for Kiev giving up its nuclear weapons. from the soviet era.
Speaking earlier with Zelenskiy, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine was closer to the alliance than ever before and dismissed Russia’s new warnings about the consequences of supporting Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the security arrangements for Ukraine were not designed to be a substitute for full NATO membership and said the summit commitments marked a high point for Western support for Kiev.
Russia, which says NATO’s eastward expansion is an existential threat to its own security, was quick to lash out.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “potentially very dangerous” for the West to give Ukraine security guarantees.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the summit showed NATO was reverting to “Cold War schemes,” adding that it would respond “in a timely and appropriate manner, using all means and methods at our disposal.”
Reporting by John Irish, Steve Holland, Justyna Pawlak, Sabine Siebold, Andrew Gray, and Max Hunder; writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Matthias Williams, and William Maclean; Edited by Alex Richardson, Howard Goller, and Rosalba O’Brien
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