US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a historic donation of air-defense equipment to Ukraine and said Russia was failing in this war.
Welcoming member leaders to a historic summit marking NATO’s 75th anniversary, Biden said the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Italy would provide Ukraine with equipment for five additional tactical air-defense systems.
He said the US and its partners intend to provide Ukraine with dozens of additional tactical air-defense systems in the coming months. He added that the US will ensure that Ukraine will be on the front lines when “we export critical air-defense interceptors.”
“They will get this assistance before anyone else does,” Biden said. “In total, Ukraine will receive hundreds of additional interceptors next year that will help defend Ukrainian cities from Russian missiles and help Ukrainian troops withstand air strikes on their front lines.”
He said, “There is no doubt that Russia is failing this war. (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is more than two years into the war, and his defeat is staggering. More than 350,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded, nearly one million (1 million) Russians, many of them young people, have left Russia because they no longer see a future in Russia.”
“Kiev, remember guys and ladies, was going to fall in five days? Remember? Well, it’s still standing and will continue to stand after two and a half years. All allies knew that before this war, Putin thought NATO would fall apart. Today, NATO is stronger than ever in its history. When this stupid war began, Ukraine was an independent country. Today, it’s still an independent country,” the US President said.
He reiterated that Putin’s aggressive war against Ukraine continues, saying the Russian president wants nothing less than the complete subjugation of Ukraine, to end that country’s democracy, destroy its culture and wipe it off the map.
“We know Putin won’t stop at Ukraine, but there’s no doubt that Ukraine can and will stop Putin,” Biden said.
He said the war will end and Ukraine will remain a free and independent country. “Russia will not win. Ukraine will win. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a defining moment for Europe, the transatlantic community and, I would also like to say, the world. We must remember that NATO remains a bulwark of global security; this did not happen by chance,” he said.
“NATO is stronger, wiser and more energetic than it was when you started,” the President said. “And a billion people in Europe or North America, or even the whole world, will reap the fruits of your labor in the form of security, opportunity and greater freedom in the years to come.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in his statement that there is no cost-free option with aggressive neighbor Russia.
“There are no risk-free options in war. And remember – the biggest cost and the biggest risk will be if Russia wins in Ukraine. We cannot allow that to happen. It will embolden not only President Putin, but other authoritarian leaders in Iran, North Korea and China,” he said.
He acknowledged that NATO’s enduring success has never been unexpected, but rather “the result of deliberate choices and difficult decisions” – from the creation of the Alliance to arms control negotiations, from NATO expansion at the end of the Cold War to support for Ukraine today.
“The time to stand up for freedom and democracy is now; the place is Ukraine,” he said.
Stoltenberg concluded by saying the alliance would face difficult questions in the future, but “we are stronger and safer together in NATO”.
Biden awarded Stoltenberg the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor, for a decade of service at the helm of the coalition.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
