Joe Biden says Vladimir Putin has strengthened Nato’s alliance and resolve
- The US president tells Nato’s easternmost members that they ‘know better than anyone what’s at stake in this conflict’ in Ukraine
- Nato head Jens Stoltenberg adds in meeting that ‘we cannot allow Russia to continue to chip away at European security’
The two leaders made their remarks in Warsaw at a gathering of the Bucharest Nine, or “B9” – the North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations nearest to Russia – as they faced the prospect of a protracted war against Ukraine, with Stoltenberg emphasising the need to “break the cycle of Russian aggression”.
“I said you keep asking for the Finland-isation of Nato, you’re going to get the Nato-isation of Finland,” Biden said, referring to Putin.
“Well, it happened. Not only are we as strong as we were, we’re stronger.”
“As Nato’s eastern flank, you’re the front lines of our collective defence and you know better than anyone what’s at stake in this conflict, not just for Ukraine, but for the freedom of democracies throughout Europe and around the world,” Biden added, vowing to “defend literally every inch of Nato”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced this week that Ankara was ready to resume negotiations on Finland’s and Sweden’s entry into the defence alliance after suspending them last month. Erdogan had claimed that Finland was harbouring militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party, which Turkey considers a terrorist group.
