US PRESIDENT Joe Biden has greeted NATO leaders in Washington DC with a powerful speech that appeared aimed at reassuring allies abroad and at home that he can weather the election challenge from Donald Trump.
In a brief but forceful speech at the opening of the summit, the president declared the military alliance was “stronger than ever” as it faces a “critical moment” with the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Warning that “autocrats” were upending the global order, Biden announced more military aid for Kyiv. The U.S. president and leaders from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania are donating Patriot missile batteries and other systems to bolster Ukraine’s battered air defenses.
“The war will end with Ukraine remaining a free and independent nation,” Biden said in remarks read from a teleprompter Tuesday followingnoon. “Russia will not win. Ukraine will win.”
Biden spoke for regarding 13 minutes in a clear voice, a contrast to his nervous tone during last month’s presidential debate with Trump.
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers met privately to discuss Biden’s leadership of the party and the mood was “somber,” lawmakers told the Associated Press.
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Then on Tuesday, a seventh Democrat in the House of Representatives — Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey — publicly called on Biden not to run for reelection, saying the stakes were “too high.”
Visiting diplomats also expressed skepticism regarding Biden’s future, according to reports. “We don’t see how he can come back following the debate,” an unnamed European diplomat told Reuters news agency. “I can’t imagine him being at the helm of the US and NATO for another four years.”
Biden’s team has responded by trying to show that the 81-year-old president is still strong enough to handle the demands of the presidency. The White House has linked Biden’s leadership to the expansion of NATO since Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, with Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.
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Leaders from 32 member states gathered in the US capital for the summit. They were joined by Britain’s new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Before leaving for Washington, he said he was pleased to “confirm and reaffirm the Labour Party’s strong, unwavering support for NATO”.
“This NATO trip is all regarding standing with our allies, discussing in practical terms how we provide further support to Ukraine, and sending a very clear message to Putin that we will stand up to Russian aggression anywhere in the world,” he said.
Starmer is scheduled to meet Biden on Wednesday, as well as Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress.
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The event was held at the same site where the original treaty was signed decades ago, which Biden referenced in his speech. At the end of his speech, Biden called NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to the stage to present him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.
On Tuesday night, Trump, 78, criticized NATO allies during a campaign rally at his golf club in Doral, Florida. The event was attended by his three sons, including the youngest, Barron, who attended his first Trump rally, according to his father, and received more applause from the audience than his brothers, Eric and Don.
Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO member states for failing to meet an agreed goal of spending at least 2% of gross domestic product on defense. Many NATO countries have now met that benchmark since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Trump told his supporters that these countries were giving “hundreds of billions of dollars” more because when he was president, he warned them “No, I will not protect you from Russia” unless they paid more to the alliance.
When Trump made similar remarks at a rally in February this year, Stoltenberg said such talk was “undermining the security of all of us.” But the NATO chief remained tight-lipped regarding the Republican candidate as the summit began on Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky told an event held elsewhere in Washington DC that the whole world was “waiting for November”, when the US election takes place, and he urged American voters to support Ukraine.
Zelensky is scheduled to meet Biden on Thursday. (BBC/Z-3)
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