ALBAWABA - US President Joe Biden arrived in the United Kingdom late on Sunday, as he kicks off his pre-NATO summit trip, where he will be holding talks with world leaders with the main focus being Kyiv's accession to NATO.
Biden will be meeting with UK's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, where their talks are expected to focus on the upcoming Lithuanian NATO summit in Vilnius on Tuesday, in addition to the raging war in Ukraine.
“The UK is Europe’s leading NATO ally, we are the United States’ most important trade, defense, and diplomatic partner, and we are at the forefront of providing Ukraine with the support they need to succeed on the battlefield,” Sunak said in a statement released on Saturday.
Biden is also expected to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in what counts as the first meeting between the two leaders since Erdogan's re-election in May. The meeting was confirmed by U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in a statement.
Biden's concern regarding Ukraine's NATO bid
In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Biden expressed his concern that Ukraine is not yet ready for the alliance membership, saying that Russia’s war in Ukraine needs to end before the alliance can consider adding Kyiv to its ranks, CNN reported.
“I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” Biden said, “I think we have to lay out a rational path for Ukraine to be able to qualify to be able to get into NATO,”.
Turkey's Objection to Sweden's Bid
Turkey has made it crystal clear that it opposes Sweden's bid to join the alliance as they claim that Helsinki harbors supporters and members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in what they label as "terrorist groups", Daily Sabah reported.
NATO Vilnius Summit schedule
The summit is scheduled to kick off on Tuesday with a joint press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda. The summit will be held over the course of two days, from July 11 to July 12.
