Washington [US], July 13: President Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having a "craven lust for land and power" at the end of a NATO summit where Ukraine won new security assurances from the U.S. and its allies for its defence against Moscow.
Members of the world's most powerful military bloc offered the prospect of long-term protection a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy decried as "absurd" a refusal to offer an invitation or timetable for Ukraine's entry into NATO.
Ukraine has been pushing for rapid membership while fighting a Russian invasion unleashed in February 2022 that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.
Instead, a declaration by the G7 group of the world's most industrialised countries launched a framework for bilateral negotiations to provide military and financial support, intelligence sharing and a promise of immediate steps if Russia should attack again.
Speaking in Vilnius, Lithuania, at the end of the two-day meeting on Russia's doorstep, Biden said Putin had badly underestimated the resolve of the U.S.-led military alliance.
Swallowing his disappointment over the lack of a membership timetable, Zelenskiy hailed NATO's "practical and unprecedented support for Ukraine" and said that at the summit Ukraine had obtained "unambiguous clarity that Ukraine will be in NATO".
He tweeted: "I believe we will be in NATO once the security situation stabilises. Put simply, when the war is over, Ukraine will be invited into NATO and Ukraine will clearly become a member of the Alliance. I felt no thoughts of any other sort."
At a meeting with Zelenskiy, Biden promised him the U.S. was doing everything it could to meet Ukraine's needs and acknowledged Zelenskiy's frustration about the scale and speed of support.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan had said Biden would discuss the issue of long-range missiles with Zelenskiy when they met.
Speaking to reporters later, Biden said: "One thing Zelenskiy understands now is that whether or not he's in NATO now is not relevant" as long as he has the commitments that have been made at the summit. "He's not concerned about that now."
Zelenskiy told Biden he wanted to thank "all Americans" for the billions of dollars in aid his country had received.
British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he had told Ukraine that its international allies were "not Amazon" and Kyiv needed to show gratitude for weapons donations to persuade Western politicians to give more.
Zelenskiy said: "We were always grateful to the UK, prime ministers and the minister of defence because the people are always supporting us."
Britain, France, Germany and the U.S. have been negotiating with Kyiv for weeks over a broad international framework of support, encompassing modern advanced military equipment such as fighter jets, training, intelligence-sharing and cyber defence.
In return, Ukraine would pledge better governance, including through judicial and economic reforms and enhanced transparency.
The first sitting of a new NATO-Ukraine Council was also held on Wednesday, a format designed to tighten cooperation between Kyiv and the 31-nation alliance.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation