The announcements expected over the two-day summit will harden the collective’s defenses as the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its fifth month. Since the Cold War, NATO has not made such significant improvements in its stance.
Biden and his fellow leaders are eager to change momentum on the ground in Ukraine, where Russia continues to win in the East.
A missile attack on Monday at a shopping center in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk was a reminder of Russia’s continued brutality.
“Russia’s attack on civilians in a mall is cruel. We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people,” Biden wrote on Twitter. “As demonstrated at the G7 summit, the US along with our allies and partners will continue to hold Russia accountable for these atrocities and support Ukraine’s defense.”
Biden arrives at the NATO meeting after concluding the last meetings with G7 leaders in Germany, where the Ukraine crisis dominated talks between the leaders. Agreements on sanctions and testing of the Russian oil price limit were expected to emerge from the meeting.
Biden met on Tuesday morning with Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom on the sidelines of the G7, which takes place in the Bavarian region of Germany. The group has played the most important role in orchestrating the Western response to the war in Ukraine, although there are differences of opinion on how and when to involve Russian President Vladimir Putin in negotiations to end the war.
New food safety announcements
G7 leaders on Tuesday announced funding of up to $ 5 billion in global food security in the latest effort to offset the global effects of the war in Ukraine, more than half of which will come from the United States.
As part of Tuesday’s announcement, the Biden administration pledges $ 2.76 billion “to support efforts in more than 47 countries and regional organizations,” including $ 2 billion in direct humanitarian aid and $ 760 million “for sustainable, short- and medium-term food assistance to help improve. the resilience and productivity of food systems around the world, especially in vulnerable regions,” a senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday.
According to White House estimates, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the subsequent destruction of agricultural equipment and the blocking of grain shipments will bring up to 40 million people into poverty by 2022. The Biden administration has attempted a series of provisional measures to move the grain and prevent it. a “catastrophic food shortage” in some parts of the world.
“Obviously, Putin’s actions have been the core, and the thing from which a direct line can be drawn to all the vulnerabilities we are seeing around the world in terms of food security: his actions have strangled food production. and agricultural., using food as a weapon of war, “the official said. “This is just one part of our efforts and we are committed to doing our best, both in the United States and the G7, to work with partners around the world to address it.”
The U.S. commitment will come from Ukraine’s second supplementary assistance package approved by lawmakers last month, and is expected to be allocated and delivered by the end of the fiscal year. According to the official, the leaders also discussed “a number of approaches” to get the Ukrainian grain on the market and deal with global scarcity, adding that the issue was “at the top of the list of priorities that they have the leaders when it comes to the challenge of food security. ” . “
Tuesday’s announcement comes on the last day of the G7 summit in Schloss Elmau, Germany, where leaders are also expected to condemn the damage caused by China’s “industrial practices that distort the non-transparent market.” a statement wrapping the summit.
The crucial NATO summit begins on Tuesday
The president will travel to Madrid in the afternoon. Leaders attending the NATO summit are expected to approve a new “Strategic Concept” that outlines the defense alliance’s goals for the next decade. These priorities include “building resilience to transnational threats, including cybernetics and climate” and “deepening partnerships with democratic partners in Europe and Asia to strengthen the rule-based international order,” the White House says.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that the alliance would increase the number of troops on high alert to 300,000, a seven-fold increase that reflects the war in Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said Russia had abandoned any association with NATO and the group was forced to respond.
“They have chosen confrontation instead of dialogue. We are sorry, but of course, then we must respond to this reality,” he said.
Biden will meet on Tuesday with President Pedro Sanchez of Spain and His Majesty King Philip VI of Spain, according to a schedule provided by the White House. Biden and Sanchez are expected to hold a bilateral meeting to discuss coordinating support in Ukraine, as well as fighting the global climate crisis, improving global health security and promoting economic prosperity in Latin America, the Caribbean. and Africa.
President and First Lady Jill Biden will attend a dinner on Tuesday evening for leaders attending the NATO summit, which will be hosted by King Philip VI and Queen Letizia of Spain.
Challenges at home and abroad
The summit comes as the Russian invasion of Ukraine extends to its fifth month and as the US seeks to keep allies united in their support for Ukraine and maintain pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But it also comes as leaders face the threat of a global recession and the Biden administration struggles with rising inflation and high home prices and interest rates. Growing economic concerns have raised questions about whether the Western response coupled with the Ukraine conflict can be sustained in the long run as the war progresses.
The American assessment of the war increasingly predicts a long and punishing battle in eastern Ukraine that will result in heavy personnel losses on both sides. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told G7 leaders on Monday during a virtual meeting that he wants the war in Ukraine to end by the end of 2022, according to a source familiar with his statements. U.S. and European officials are also looking at the summit for possible progress in advancing Finland and Sweden’s bids to join NATO. The two nations formally applied to join the security alliance in May, driven by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will not support the offers and has accused the two countries of hosting members of the militant separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, also known as the PKK, which Turkey considers a terrorist organization.
On Tuesday, Erdogan told reporters he was talking to Biden and could meet with the president of the United States in Madrid. Erdogan said requests from Sweden and Finland to join NATO will be the main ones.
“The PKK will be on our agenda at my bilateral meetings. We will explain our position in Sweden and Finland once again. The PKK should be prevented from acting in these countries,” he said, adding: must become members “. of NATO, must address Turkey’s security concerns. We don’t want dry words, we want results. “
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the G7 summit that the goal ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid was to “create as much positive momentum as possible behind Finland’s candidacies. and Sweden “, although he warned:” I am not sitting here today suggesting that all the problems will be solved by Madrid “.
The United States is also preparing to announce the purchase of an advanced medium- and long-range surface-to-air missile defense system requested by the President of Ukraine. The announcement could come as early as this week, and adds to the various military assistance packages the U.S. has provided since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
The United States will also announce other new sanctions, including Russian defense companies and individuals. Leaders have agreed to ban imports of new Russian gold, which is the country’s second largest export after energy.