Biden confirms Washington's firm commitment to NATO

Washington (Union)

Yesterday, US President Joe Biden stressed that the United States must maintain its “firm commitment” to NATO, coinciding with NATO’s commemoration of the 75th anniversary of its founding.
Biden said, in a statement: “We must remember that the sacred commitment we offer to our allies to defend every inch of NATO territory also gives us security.”
US President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltpenberg stressed the importance of unity of ranks between the United States and Europe.
The Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022 revived NATO, while it faced one of the most serious challenges since it emerged from World War II to confront the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.
The alliance has strengthened its forces across Eastern Europe, and now includes 32 members after Finland and Sweden joined its ranks.
But while the conflict in Ukraine has refocused NATO eastward, another threat coming from the West is making allies nervous about the most prominent power leading the alliance, the United States.
This threat is represented by Trump's return to the White House, after he hinted at not abiding by the alliance's collective defense treaty by declaring that he would “encourage Russia to attack any NATO country that does not spend enough on defense.”
Stoltenberg said, during a ceremony held at NATO headquarters in Brussels: “I do not believe in America alone, just as I do not believe in Europe alone. I believe in America and Europe together in NATO, because we are stronger and safer together.”
In an effort to ward off Trump's criticism, NATO reviewed an increase in spending by European allies, as 20 members are expected this year to reach the goal of spending 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.
“North America also needs Europe,” Stoltenberg said, after a Belgian army band played the NATO anthem.
He added: “Through NATO, the United States has more friends and allies than any other major power.”
As the specter of a Trump victory looms over the future of the alliance, NATO countries face the most pressing challenge of ensuring that Ukraine does not lose.
NATO members threw their weight behind Kiev, which seeks to join NATO by sending weapons worth tens of billions of dollars.
But these supplies have now declined at a time when a necessary aid package is still pending within the framework of the political debates taking place in the United States. On the front line, Ukrainian forces, which suffer from a shortage of ammunition compared to Russian forces, are facing successive losses. In the face of escalating Russian missile attacks, Kiev is appealing to its Western backers to send all the Patriot defense systems it can.
“I don’t want to spoil the festive atmosphere, but certainly my main message today will be Patriot missiles,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said before talks with his NATO counterparts.
He added: “Saving Ukrainian lives, saving the Ukrainian economy, and saving Ukrainian cities depend on the availability of Patriot and other air defense systems in Ukraine.”
Following the talks, Stoltenberg said that NATO partners agreed to look again at their stockpiles to see if they had additional defense systems that they could supply to Ukraine.
In a post on the “X” platform, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said, “Beautiful stories do not win a war.”
He added: “Without significant arms supplies and real security guarantees, the glorious narrative of unity and solidarity with Ukraine is quickly fading.”
In an effort to ensure long-term support for Kiev in the face of the possibility of Trump's return, Stoltenberg proposed that NATO members create a fund worth 100 billion euros ($108 billion) for five years.
He is also pushing to make NATO an organization more directly involved in coordinating arms deliveries, something the alliance has refused to do so far for fear of dragging it into war with Russia.
NATO countries gave the green light to move forward with the plan yesterday, but there are still many questions about the method through which financing can be done, and to what extent the alliance will be prepared to work on determining its details before an upcoming summit in Washington in July.