VILNIUS, Lithuania — President Joe Biden delivered a landmark speech Wednesday after a two-day NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Biden addressed the crowds gathered in the Vilnius University grounds.
This comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the new commitment of arms and ammunition to counter a Russian invasion even as he expressed dismay at the lack of a clear path for his country to join NATO as the alliance wraps up its annual summit on Wednesday.
“The Ukrainian delegation brought home a significant security victory for Ukraine, for our country, for our people, for our children,” he said as he was flanked by Biden and other leaders from the Group of Seven most powerful democracies.
The joint declaration issued by the G7 laid the groundwork for each country to negotiate an agreement to help Ukraine strengthen its military in the long term. Zelenskyy described the initiative as a bridge to NATO membership and a deterrent against Russia.
“Our support will endure into the future,” Biden said. “We will help Ukraine build a strong and capable defense.”
The announcement came as NATO leaders launched a new forum to deepen relations with Ukraine, known as the NATO-Ukraine Council. It is intended to serve as a permanent body where the 31 alliance members and Ukraine can hold consultations and hold meetings in emergency situations.
The arrangement is part of NATO's efforts to bring Ukraine as close to a military alliance as possible without actually joining it. On Tuesday, the leaders said in their communiqué summarizing the summit's conclusion that Ukraine could join “when the allies agree and conditions are met.”
“Today we meet as equals,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday in a news conference with Zelenskyy. “I look forward to the day we meet as allies.”
The ambiguous plans for Ukraine's future membership reflect challenges to reaching consensus among current alliance members while the war continues, and have frustrated Zelenskyy even as he expressed appreciation for military hardware promised by the industrialized nations of the Group of Seven.
“The results of the summit are good, but if there is an invitation, that would be ideal,” said Zelenskyy, through an interpreter. He added that joining NATO would be “a serious motivating factor for the Ukrainian people” for rejecting Russia.
Despite his disappointment, the Ukrainian leader was more conciliatory on Wednesday than the previous day, when he harshly criticized the lack of a deadline for membership as “unprecedented and unreasonable.”
“NATO needs us as much as we need NATO,” he said with Stoltenberg.
Ukraine's future membership was the most divisive and emotional issue at this year's summit. In essence, Western nations are willing to continue sending weapons to help Ukraine do the job NATO was designed to do – defending the lines of defense against a Russian invasion – but not allowing Ukraine to join its ranks and benefit from its security during the war. .
“We have to stay out of this war but can support Ukraine. We managed that very delicate balancing act over the last 17 months. It is in the interest of everyone that we maintain that balancing act,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Wednesday.
Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, whose country lies on the eastern wing of NATO and has a long history of troubles with Russia, said he preferred Ukraine.
“There will always be a difference in taste of how fast you want to go,” he says. However, Karins added, “in the end, what everyone got, including Ukraine, and what Moscow saw was that we are all very united.”
Amanda Sloat, senior director of European affairs for the US National Security Council, defended the summit decision.
“I agree that the communiqué is unprecedented, but I see it in a positive light,” he told reporters Wednesday.
Sloat noted that Ukraine did not need to submit a “membership action plan” for seeking to join NATO, though he said “there are still governance and security sector reforms that will be required.” The action plan is usually a key step in the process involving advice and assistance to countries wishing to join.
Symbols of support for Ukraine are common around Vilnius, where the country's blue-and-yellow flag is hung from buildings and stuck in windows. One sign condemns Russian President Vladimir Putin. Others urged NATO leaders to “speed up” their aid to Ukraine.
However, there was more caution within the summit itself, especially from Biden, who has explicitly said he doesn't think Ukraine is ready to join NATO. There are fears that the country's democracy is unstable and that corruption is too deep-rooted.
Under Article 5 of NATO's charter, members are obligated to defend each other from attack, which could quickly draw the US and other nations into direct war with Russia.
Defining the end of hostilities is not an easy task. Officials have declined to specify a goal, which could suggest a negotiated ceasefire or Ukraine reclaiming all occupied territory. Either way, Putin will essentially have veto power over Ukraine's NATO membership by prolonging the conflict.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace on Wednesday warned of frustration at Zelenskyy's demands, adding that “people want to see gratitude” for Western military support. Wallace also said he heard “grumbling” from some US lawmakers that “we are not Amazon.”
“I mean, it's true,” said Wallace, according to several British media. He remembers saying the same thing to Ukraine when he visited the country last year and was presented with a requisition list for weapons. “I'm not an Amazon.”
At the same time, the new G7 framework will include a long-term commitment to Ukraine's security.
The UK foreign ministry said the G7 would “determine how allies will support Ukraine over the coming years to end the war and deter and respond to any future attacks.” The ministry added that the framework marks the first time multiple countries have agreed “comprehensive long-term security arrangements of this kind with another country.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement that supporting Ukraine “would send a strong signal to President Putin and return peace to Europe.”
Moscow reacted strongly to the G7 plan.
“We consider this very bad and potentially very dangerous,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. He added that “by providing security guarantees to Ukraine, they are violating Russia's security.”
Ukraine has been let down by security guarantees in the past. In the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, Russia, the US and the UK agreed that “none of their weapons shall be used against Ukraine except in self-defence” in exchange for Kyiv transferring its Soviet-era nuclear weapons to Russia.
But in 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and captured most of the territory to the south and east. In 2022, Russia launched a massive invasion in an attempt to overthrow Kyiv, leading to the current bloody conflict.
Zelenskyy told reporters that the Budapest Memorandum does not help without NATO membership and a mutual defense agreement.
“In fact, Ukraine was left with the document and defended itself,” he said.
While international summits are often tightly scripted, this one in Vilnius has swerved between conflict and compromise.
At first the leaders seemed deadlocked over Sweden's offer to become a member of the alliance. However, Turkey suddenly agreed to drop its objections on Monday, the night before the summit officially started. The deal was a success with leaders eager to show solidarity in Vilnius.
“This summit was historic before it started,” Stoltenberg said.
Erdogan has yet to comment publicly on the deal, over Sweden's membership, even during Tuesday's meeting with Biden in which Biden referred to “the deal you reached yesterday.”
However, Erdogan appears eager to develop his relationship with Biden.
The Turkish president has been looking for advanced American fighter jets and a path to membership in the European Union. The White House has expressed support for both, but has publicly insisted the issue is not related to Sweden's membership in NATO.
___
Associated Press writers Karl Ritter, Liudas Dapkus, Joanna Kozlowska and Jill Lawless contributed to this report.