Biden's Administration working on meeting with Zelenskyy at NATO summit
US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Phoro: Getty Images)
President Joe Biden's administration is working on organizing a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as early as next week. This meeting may take place during the NATO summit in Washington, according to a senior White House official.
According to the official, on July 9, Biden will meet with NATO leaders at an event dedicated to the Alliance's 75th anniversary. On Wednesday, July 10, he will welcome Sweden as a new NATO member at the summit, followed by a joint dinner at the White House in the evening.
On Thursday, July 11, there will be meetings with the EU and alliance partners from the Indo-Pacific region—Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand. In the afternoon, there will be a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council.
Following this, Biden will hold events with nearly 20 allies and partners who have already signed security agreements with Ukraine.
"And while the President will have quite a busy schedule given his commitment as the host of the summit, we're working to set up several bilats and meetings with various world leaders on the margins of the summit, including President Zelenskyy, again, as I mentioned earlier. And we'll have more information on those to share in the coming days.," the official added.
It is worth noting that, as of today, the Ukrainian side has not officially announced Zelenskyy's trip to Washington.
Ukraine's expectations from NATO Summit
Earlier, President Zelenskyy expressed hope for strong outcomes from the NATO summit.
"And as we promised, we have to double the air defense system over the summer," he added.
He also thanked the US "for another step to strengthen our air defense," announcing new decisions without going into details.
The White House has stated that new announcements regarding F-16s for Ukraine will be made next week.
It was also reported that at the summit, allied countries will reaffirm that Ukraine's future lies within NATO and will make several statements that will be "part of the bridge" to the country's membership in the Alliance.
