Biden defends candidacy, dodges questions on US weapons restrictions

U.S. President Joe Biden defended his candidacy for reelection in the first solo news conference of his campaign on July 11 amid calls from Democrats to resign from the race.

Speaking after the conclusion of the three-day NATO summit in Washington, Biden fielded questions on his record and foreign policy while avoiding direct answers regarding Ukraine's use of U.S.-supplied weapons.

"If (Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky) had the capacity to strike Moscow, strike the Kremlin, would that make sense? It wouldn't," Biden said.

"The question is what's the best use of the weaponry he has."

Biden dodged the question of whether the U.S. would lift restrictions preventing Ukrainian troops from striking Russian territory with American weapons, saying he was listening to the advice of his top military leaders.

Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit earlier in the week, Zelensky on July 9 urged U.S. leaders to lift the prohibition and allow Ukrainian forces to target military facilities within Russia.

Biden also indicated that he was not interested in negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin at this time.

There is "no good reason to talk to Putin right now," Biden said in response to a question from a reporter as to whether the U.S. is prepared to communicate directly with Russia,

"There's not much (Putin) is prepared to do in terms of accommodating his change in behavior," Biden added.

"Last time I talked to Putin was trying to get him to work on an arms control agreement related to nuclear weapons in space. That didn't go very far."

Biden used the press conference to argue that he remains the best Democrat to oppose presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. In a nearly hour-long conference, he said he had no intention of dropping out of the race, despite increasing calls for him to step down.

Jim Himes, a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, urged Biden to suspend his campaign moments after the conference ended, joining over a dozen Democratic representatives and one U.S. senator who have made similar public appeals.

In an address before the press conference, Biden mistakenly referred to Zelensky as "President Putin," again raising concerns about his health and mental fitness for office.

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