Biden, NATO chief meet in Washington ahead of NATO summit

President Biden met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington on June 13 ahead of a major NATO alliance meeting next month in Lithuania.

NATO's 31 member states will meet in Vilnius to face a number of issues, including potential security guarantees for Ukraine, Sweden's entrance into the alliance, and Stoltenberg's possible successor.

During the meeting, Biden reemphasized the U.S.'s commitment to defending any NATO country that comes under attack.

“We’ve strengthened NATO’s eastern flank, made it clear we’ll defend every inch of NATO territory,” Biden said. "The commitment of the United States to NATO’s Article 5 is rock solid. And at our summit in Lithuania next month, we’re going to be building on that momentum."

Ukraine's accession into the NATO alliance has become a topic of contention over the last few months.

General Stoltenberg said in April that all members have agreed that Ukraine will eventually join the alliance when the war is over. However, earlier this month, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that there  is "no point" in attending the Vilnius meeting unless the alliance offers a membership invitation or "some kind of signal."

Allied air forces recently participated in  the largest military air exercises in NATO's history in Germany on June 12.

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The Kyiv IndependentKate Tsurkan