From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Biden to visit NATO next week for ‘extraordinary meeting,’ US says
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleUS President Joe Biden will visit NATO headquarters in Brussels next week, the US mission to NATO says.
Biden will meet with the leaders of all NATO allies on March 24, the announcement says.
President Biden @POTUS comes to @NATO HQ next week to participate in an extraordinary meeting of the leaders of all #NATO Allies. #WeAreNATO pic.twitter.com/Pd08Tk2KTs
— U.S. Mission to NATO (@USNATO) March 15, 2022
The White House says Biden will use the trip to the emergency summit to assert Washington’s backing for its allies.
Biden will “reaffirm our iron-clad commitment to our NATO allies,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki says.
Biden will also attend an EU summit in Brussels to discuss the invasion of Ukraine and Western efforts to impose “economic costs on Russia, provide humanitarian support to those affected by the violence and address other challenges,” Psaki says.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says he convened the summit for the military organization’s 30 leaders to discuss the Russian invasion.
The summit “will address the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, our strong support for Ukraine, and further strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defense in response to a new reality for our security.”
“At this critical time, North America and Europe must continue to stand together in NATO,” Stoltenberg says.
He said earlier today that NATO will come up with new strategies and troop deployments due to Russia’s invasion.
The US-led NATO military alliance has been a focal point of the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Putin claimed NATO encroachment, and possible Ukraine membership, as a pretense for invasion.
Kyiv has consistently pleaded for help from NATO fending off the Russians.
Ukrainian President Zelensky said today that Ukraine “must recognize” it’s not going to join the alliance.
The Times of Israel Community.