Biden hosts NATO summit to show strong support for war-ravaged Ukraine

Washington: The NATO summit hosted by US President Joe Biden this week is likely to be a strong demonstration of support from America and its allies for Ukraine, according to administration officials, and will include major new announcements to expand military, political and financial support for the war-torn European country.

Sweden will become a member of the alliance for the first time at the three-day NATO summit, which will take place here from July 9 to 11. Sweden officially joined the alliance in March.

The historic summit would also commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is today a strong military alliance of 32 countries.

“It has been truly indispensable for Euro-Atlantic security and has averted threats to the United States and our allies,” a senior administration official told reporters ahead of the summit.

On Sunday, President Biden also spoke about the upcoming NATO summit in Washington, DC

“I will soon be hosting NATO countries in Washington. We are bringing them together,” Biden said. “The world is looking to us. This is no joke. The world is looking to America, not to carry its burdens, but to guide its hopes.”

The NATO summit, which took place in the American capital shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, will send “a strong signal to Putin that he is gravely mistaken if he thinks he can outlast the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine,” according to government officials.

“We will also send an important message to the rest of the world, including through our partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, as we stand united and support democratic values,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The summit in Washington begins on Tuesday with Biden welcoming NATO leaders. He and the First Lady will host a 75th anniversary commemoration at the Mellon Auditorium, the venue for the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on April 4, 1949, which established NATO. It was also the venue for the 50th anniversary commemoration in 1999, hosted by then-President Bill Clinton.

NATO was created to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. On July 10, the President will welcome Sweden as the Alliance’s newest member at a meeting of NATO’s 32 allies. Later that evening, NATO leaders will be invited to a dinner at the White House. On July 11, NATO will hold a meeting with the European Union (EU) and NATO’s Indo-Pacific partners – Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand – to deepen their cooperation.

Officials also said they would make clear statements to China.

“We are bringing together some of our closest partners outside NATO to discuss issues such as resilience, cyber disinformation, technology and the like. In terms of deterrence and defense, NATO is of course focused on the Euro-Atlantic area and that is where its capabilities are deployed,” an official said.

“But the United States has a number of partnerships with countries around the world that you could call variable geometry, with different partners, including in the Indo-Pacific. This particular grouping of the IP4, as we call it in NATO jargon – Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea – those are some of our closest partners that we work with in the region,” the official added.

President Biden’s poor performance at last week’s debate has raised new concerns among allies already worried about the possibility of a second Trump presidency as they head to the NATO summit, the Washington Post reported.