In an interview aired on Sunday, President Biden said Ukraine was not ready to join NATO and that it was “premature” to begin the process of admitting Ukraine to NATO in the midst of war. .
In an interview with CNN’s Farid Zakaria, Mr. Biden said, “I don’t think there is currently unanimity within NATO on whether to add Ukraine to NATO or not,” adding that the process is linked to a peace deal with the United States. Said it could only be done later. Russia was there.
“If the war continues, we are all at war,” Biden said, referring to the alliance’s commitment to mutual defense. “If that is the case, we are at war with Russia.” He added that there would be “other conditions that must be met, including democratization,” for Ukraine to be considered for membership. rice field.
The president began a trip to Europe on Sunday, which will include attending a NATO summit in Lithuania, where Russia’s war on Ukraine was waged and the United States last week banned most of its allies. decision to provide Kiev with the weapons main focus.
In an interview, Biden said he warned Chinese President Xi Jinping that he was getting too close to Russia. He said Biden spoke to Xi after Chinese leaders met with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin in March, learning that a number of U.S. companies had pulled out of Russia since the war began. He added that he reminded him.
“He didn’t argue,” Biden said. “And as you can see, he’s not serious about Russia.”
Biden defends His decision to provide Ukraine with cluster bombs, which have been outlawed by many of America’s closest allies. He said it was a difficult decision, but with artillery supplies dwindling, the choice was between supplying arms or leaving Ukraine defenseless.
“This was a very difficult decision for me to make. By the way, I’ve talked it over with my allies and I’ve talked it over with my friends on the hill,” Biden said. “Ukrainians are running out of ammunition.”
Another topic at the NATO summit will be Sweden’s interest in joining the alliance. Mr. Biden said I met with the Prime Minister of Sweden last week.He said he was “optimistic” that Sweden was close to joining the group, despite objections from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (But Erdogan supports Ukraine’s accession: he said on saturdaySpeaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he said, “Ukraine definitely deserves NATO membership.”
Biden, who is 80 and seeking re-election, also addressed concerns about his age.
“I think we’re sort of putting the world together in a way that makes people much safer,” Biden said. “I just want to get the job done. And I think I can do that in the next six years.”
Safak Timur Contributed to the report from Istanbul.
