US President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts are scheduled to hold talks with Asia-Pacific leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday amid concerns about growing support from China and North Korea for the Russian invasion.
Later on, all eyes will be on Biden as he closes the summit of 32 NATO leaders in Washington with a press conference. It will give him another chance to prove to the American public that he is capable of serving another four years after his shocking debate flop brought the future of his presidency into doubt.
The hustle and bustle of the latest events at the NATO summit comes a day after NATO Labeled China a “decisive facilitator” of Russia’s war against UkraineChina, in turn, accused NATO of pursuing security at the expense of others and warned the military alliance not to bring the same “chaos” to Asia.
“We value the close cooperation with your country, not least because our security is not regional, but global,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said as he welcomed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for the final day of the alliance summit in Washington.
“This is clearly illustrated by the war in Ukraine,” Stoltenberg added.
Biden shook hands with leaders during a meeting Thursday morning and smiled before sitting next to Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg summoned NATO leaders to the military alliance’s main decision-making body and said they would address “shared security challenges, including Russia’s war on Ukraine, China’s support for Russia’s war economy and the growing alliance of authoritarian powers.”
He said allies must work increasingly closely together to keep the peace.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who is also taking part in the talks, said it was important to involve all partners in the conversation on how to ensure stability, especially as China strengthens its ties with Russia, but also in the Asia-Pacific region.
“China supports Russia in the name of this unlimited friendship. (North) Korea is one of the main suppliers of raw materials to Russia,” he told reporters, noting that tensions on maritime borders “in the Indo-Pacific pose a threat to the stability of the entire region.”
The top countries include Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea.
Zelensky will later join allied leaders at a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, a forum established a year ago for the 32 allies and Kiev to meet on an equal footing and share concerns and information.
On Wednesday, NATO leaders promised Ukraine that it would “irreversible path” to membership, although the country can only join after the war, if the Allies agree that it meets all the conditions.
a rocket attack about Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital on the eve of the summit in Washington marking the 75th anniversary of NATO, underlined that Russian President Vladimir Putin may not yet be ready for peace.
Many allies also offered more military support and NATO launched a new program to guarantee deliveries of military equipment and coordinate training for Ukraine’s besieged forces. NATO members have also committed to maintaining current levels of military aid — about 40 billion euros ($43.5 billion) a year — for at least a year.