Helsinki –
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that he and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders had made military He said it showed the world that the alliance was “more united than ever”.
Biden said the allies “understand that this fight is not just about Ukraine’s future,” but also about the sovereignty, security and freedom of Eastern Europe and the world at large. Ukraine’s demands for a clear path to NATO membership remained elusive, but Mr Biden said a deal with allies would underpin Kiev’s long-term security, even if it is not in NATO. emphasized that.
Biden said during a press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto that despite domestic political turmoil, including the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House and growing isolation at home, America’s commitment to NATO remains unchanged. I swore I wouldn’t waver. Republican Party.
Asked whether the United States would remain a trusted NATO partner, Mr. Biden said: “I absolutely guarantee it. There is no question.” “There is overwhelming support from the American people, and overwhelming support from both houses of Congress.”
“No one can guarantee the future, but this is the best bet anyone can make,” he added.
Earlier Thursday, Mr. Biden met with leaders from other Nordic countries, including Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. Sweden is set to become NATO’s 32nd member after pledging to work more closely with Turkey on counter-terrorism while supporting Turkey’s accession to the European Union. Finland gained NATO membership earlier this year.
Both Finland and Sweden abandoned their history of military non-alignment after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year and sought to join the NATO alliance.
Biden’s brief stay in the coastal Finnish capital caps off a carefully planned trip to highlight the growth of military alliances the president claims have strengthened since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland’s NATO membership has effectively doubled its allied borders with Russia.
Biden arrived in Helsinki after lauding the success of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, where the allies agreed on language that would further pave the way for Ukraine to join in the future. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the outcome of the summit was an “important security victory” for his country, but still expressed disappointment that he had not received a clear invitation to participate.
Mr. Biden and other administration officials also had a pivotal dialogue with aides before Turkey withdrew its opposition to Sweden joining NATO.
Mr. Biden called the trip “good.” “I have achieved all the goals I set out to achieve,” he told reporters on Wednesday before boarding a plane to Finland.
And despite Zelensky’s displeasure, Biden, who met with Ukrainian leaders in Vilnius on Wednesday, said on Thursday that Zelensky was “very happy in the end.”
This week’s visit by the US president was a meticulously planned effort aimed at demonstrating international opposition to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, which made then-President Donald Trump infamous. It was the first time in nearly five years since he cast suspicion alongside Putin in high Helsinki. with his own intelligence equipment. That was just days after President Trump downplayed the alliance and pushed through a NATO summit that threatened to pull the United States out.
By contrast, Mr. Biden wholeheartedly embraces the doctrine of multilateralism that Mr. Trump has shunned, and has repeatedly said the United Nations needs to be rebuilt after four tumultuous years led by his predecessor. The talkative former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is also at his best at overseas summits, and his own background in international policy demonstrates how decades of experience on the world stage are crucial to the presidency. tell if there is
At the outset of the wide-ranging meeting, Niinist said the Nordic countries have the overarching objective of “ensuring the future in terms of security, environment and technology”. “The nations around the table not only share a common history, but they also share common challenges,” Biden added.
The meeting, held at the presidential palace by the sea in central Helsinki, was to focus on close cooperation between the Nordic countries and the United States on security, environmental and technology issues, according to Niinist’s office.
Biden will be the sixth U.S. president to visit Finland, a country of 5.5 million that has hosted several U.S.-Soviet and Russian summits. The first involved President Gerald Ford, who in 1975 signed the so-called Helsinki Accords with more than 30 other countries.
But Charlie Salonius Pasternak, a senior fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, said Mr Biden’s visit was not intended as a neutral place to meet with Russian leaders and others, but to celebrate the country itself. He pointed out that it was the first time a president had visited Finland. reason.
“The fact that Mr Biden chose to go to Finland specifically for Finland is symbolic and in some ways very specific,” he said. “This is the kind of deterrent message that only the United States can do.”
During the Cold War, Finland acted as a neutral buffer between Moscow and Washington, and its leaders played a role in balancing East and West, maintaining good relations with both superpowers.
Finland and neighboring Sweden abandoned their traditional political neutrality when they joined the European Union in 1995, but opinion polls show a clear majority of their citizens against joining NATO. The two countries remained militarily non-aligned. After February 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the situation changed rapidly.
