Biden, Zelenskyy to meet during NATO summit in Lithuania

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Joe Biden will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Lithuania on Wednesday, a White House official confirmed to Anadolu.

The meeting is set to take place as Russia’s war in Ukraine tops the agenda of the summit in the capital Vilnius, where 31 leaders of the military alliance are convening to discuss steps to strengthen the group's defense and deterrence.

Ukraine is pressing for a commitment toward its membership in the alliance, while some members are reluctant to support the country's bid due to the ongoing war with Russia, which passed its 500th day.

“I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” Biden told CNN last week.

Biden said that discussions around Ukraine imminently joining NATO were premature, adding that the US and its allies in NATO would continue to provide Kyiv with security and weapons to end the war.

The last meeting between Biden and Zelenskyy was held at the G-7 summit in Japan in May.