United States President Joe Biden on Tuesday pledged to forcefully defend Ukraine against Russia's invasion at the NATO summit in Washington. Speaking at the NATO summit, Biden said that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants nothing less than to wipe Ukraine off the map.
"(Vladimir) Putin wants nothing less, nothing less, than Ukraine's total subjugation... and to wipe Ukraine off the map," the US President said in his welcome to NATO member states to the summit,” as quoted by news agency Reuters. "Ukraine can and will stop Putin,” he further stated.
This comes at a time when Biden, 81, has been facing withering questions about his fitness for another term in office as some of his fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill and campaign donors fear that he will lose the presidential election to former President Donald Trump after a stumbling performance in the debate on June 27.
On Tuesday, Biden used a teleprompter while speaking with confidence, reflecting in his voice, and mostly avoided the verbal flubs and signs of confusion that marked his performance in the debate against Trump.
According to Reuters, the US President was framed by the gilded walls of the federal hall where the treaty creating NATO was signed. "Today, NATO is stronger than it's ever been in its history," he said.
The NATO summit, which is being hosted in Washington by Biden this week, is likely to show a strong demonstration of America and its allies' support for Ukraine and make significant new announcements to increase military, political, and financial support for the war-torn European country, according to administration officials.
The three-day NATO summit to be held here from July 9 to 11 will be the first to include Sweden as a member of the alliance. Sweden officially joined the alliance in March. The historic summit would also mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which is now a strong military alliance of 32 countries.