Biden: Putin was wrong on NATO's unity.

U.S. President Joe Biden said[1] at the Vilnius summit on July 12 that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was wrong to expect NATO to break as it stands more united than ever. "When Putin and his craven lust for land power unleashed this brutal war in Ukraine, he was betting NATO would break apart...

He thought our unity would shatter at first testing. He thought democratic leaders would be weak. But he thought wrong," Biden said.

The president emphasized that Ukraine remains free and independent with the support of a U.S.-led coalition of over 50 countries. "We will not waver... our commitment to Ukraine will not weaken. We will stand for liberty and freedom today, tomorrow, and as long as it takes," the president reaffirmed the U.S. backing for the besieged country.

NATO leaders and other partners convened in Vilnius, Lithuania for a two-day summit to address the Russo-Ukrainian War and Kyiv's membership bid among other topics. While Ukraine has not received the much-desired invitation to join NATO, the allies have pledged to scale up their military support. A number of partners, including the U.K., France, Germany, Canada, and Norway have presented fresh military aid.

The Alliance also agreed[2] to drop the Membership Action Plan (MAP) and introduced a three-part package to bring Ukraine closer to NATO. Members of the Group of Seven (G7) announced[3] a joint framework for bilateral support to ensure Ukraine can defend itself against present and future Russian aggression.

Former NATO envoy to Moscow: 'Potential escalation with Russia is a myth' The West failed to understand the Russian regime before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Robert Pszczel, the former NATO envoy to Moscow from 2010-2015, said on the sidelines of the Warsaw International Summit in Kyiv on July 7.

Once the punching bag of Russian propagandists during his appearances on...

News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer.

Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

References

1. ^ said (www.reuters.com)
2. ^ agreed (kyivindependent.com)
3. ^ announced (kyivindependent.com)
4. ^ Former NATO envoy to Moscow: 'Potential escalation with Russia is a myth'The West failed to understand the Russian regime before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Robert Pszczel, the former NATO envoy to Moscow from 2010-2015, said on the sidelines of the Warsaw International Summit in Kyiv on July 7.

   Once the punching bag of Russian propagandists during his appearances on... (kyivindependent.com)