The president of United States, Joe Bidenwill meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelenskynext Wednesday in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, during the second and last day of the summit of NATO heads of state and government, as confirmed by White House sources cited by local media. CNN either Political.
Until now the presence of Zelensky in Vilnius had not been confirmed despite the fact that Ukraine and its possible accession to the Alliance is one of the central issues of the summit.
Now, US sources have confirmed both the presence of the Ukrainian president and a meeting with Biden.
Zelensky himself had advanced in his evening speech on Monday who will be in Vilnius with the NATO leadersmain ally of his country in the war with Russia.
The Ukrainian head of state declared in his last speech to the nation that “Ukraine deserves to be” in the Alliance, and insisted that it needs “a clear signal” that it will be admitted as a member state when the war is over.
“Everyone understands it. Every leader, every State. Although there are different positions, it is clear that Ukraine deserves to be in the Alliance,” Zelensky said. And he added: “Not now, while the war lasts, but we need a clear signal. And this clear signal is needed now.”
He also pointed out that Ukraine is already a “de facto” part of NATO. “The security of the eastern flank of NATO depends on Ukraine”he affirmed, before recalling that Ukraine shares the mission of the Alliance to defend itself against Russia using the weapons of the countries that are already members.
“Vilnius has to confirm this,” said Zelensky, who stated that he is working with NATO countries “on the specific words of this confirmation” that Kiev hopes to receive at the July 11-12 summit in the capital of Lithuania.
For his part, Biden will also meet with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoganaccording to sources consulted by the US media.
The meeting between Biden and Zelensky is also confirmed after Turkey’s announcement that it will lift its veto on Sweden’s entry into NATO after an agreement reached in Vilnius with the Swedish prime minister, ulf kristenssenmediated by the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg.
“This is a historic day because we have a clear commitment from Turkey to send the ratification documents (for Sweden’s NATO membership) to the Grand National Assembly and to work closely with the assembly to ensure ratification,” he said. Stoltenberg.
The President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der LeyenMeanwhile, he considered a “historic step” that Turkey has lifted its veto on Sweden’s entry into the Atlantic Alliance.
“A historic step in Vilnius. I welcome the important step that Turkey has promised to take to ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO,” the German politician wrote on her profile on the social network Twitter.
(With information from Europa Press and EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com