Contents
- Zelenskyy meets with NATO leaders, including Canada’s Trudeau
- China responds to NATO criticism, vows to uphold its rights
- Biden and G7 allies seek individual security pacts with Ukraine
- Biden’s speech will focus on support for Ukraine and global challenges
- Zelenskyy sets priorities for day 2 of the summit
- Biden to meet Zelenskyy ahead of big speech
Zelenskyy meets with NATO leaders, including Canada’s Trudeau
It’s been a busy morning of meetings for Zelenskyy, with the Ukrainian president meeting with a number of NATO leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“We are discussing security guarantees for Ukraine on its way to NATO: we have Canada’s understanding, the world’s understanding will follow and we are preparing a major security victory for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in a tweet about his meeting with Trudeau.
Zelenskyy is expected to meet with Biden later today.
China responds to NATO criticism, vows to uphold its rights
HONG KONG — China has responded to NATO’s claim that Beijing is a “systemic challenge” and that its “ambitions and coercive policies” threaten the interests, security and values of the US-led military alliance.
in a release Released on Tuesday, NATO leaders said China “employs a wide range of political, economic and military tools to increase its global presence and project power while remaining opaque about its strategy, intentions and military development.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin criticized the NATO statement on Wednesday as “full of Cold War thinking and ideological bias.” A Tuesday statement by the Chinese mission to the EU said the statement “ignores basic facts, senselessly distorts China’s position and policies, and deliberately discredits China.”
The mission warned that China would resolutely defend its rights and interests and strongly opposed any expansion into the Asia Pacific region by NATO, which is reportedly considering opening a liaison office in Tokyo. There was no mention of establishing an office in Tokyo in the statement.
Biden and G7 allies seek individual security pacts with Ukraine
VILNIUS (AP) — Biden and the G7 leaders will make an announcement with Zelenskyy on Wednesday outlining long-term commitments “to help Ukraine build a military that can defend itself and deter future attacks,” the White House said.
Through a series of bilateral negotiations aimed at reaching security compromises between individual countries and Kiev, the process “will focus on ensuring that Ukraine has a sustainable fighting force capable of defending Ukraine now and deterring Russian aggression in the future.” said the White House National Security Council. Europe director Amanda Sloat told reporters on Wednesday.
“This multilateral declaration will send a significant signal to Russia that time is not on its side,” Sloat added.
Biden has ruled out a path to NATO membership for Ukraine while the war is ongoing and with political and security reforms pending.
Biden’s speech will focus on support for Ukraine and global challenges
Biden is expected to deliver remarks at Vilnius University before leaving the Lithuanian capital later today.
The president’s speech is expected to focus on how the United States and its allies are “supporting Ukraine, upholding democratic values, and taking action to address global challenges,” according to the president’s schedule.
Zelenskyy sets priorities for day 2 of the summit
Zelenskyy set out three priorities for the second day of the NATO summit in Vilnius after no concrete promises were made on alliance membership on Tuesday.
“The first is new support packages for our army on the battlefield,” Zelenskyy said Wednesday in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
“The second, I think, is an invitation to NATO,” he said. “We need to understand that we have this invitation for when the security situation allows it.”
Finally, Zelenskyy said that he hoped to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine on the way to NATO.
Biden to meet Zelenskyy ahead of big speech
Biden is expected to meet Zelenskyy before delivering a speech on the last day of the NATO summit in Vilnius.
The meeting comes after a NATO statement said the alliance would help Ukraine forge a path to join their ranks, but did not offer a new timetable for a future invitation.
Biden will then deliver his speech at Vilnius University before heading to Helsinki, where he will celebrate the expansion of the alliance, with Finland as its newest member.
