US President Joe Biden began his three-nation trip to Europe after arriving in London on Sunday.
He is scheduled to meet British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street on Monday, after which he will visit King Charles at Windsor Castle.
Talks with King Charles are expected to include climate initiatives.
On Monday night, Biden will travel to the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius ahead of talks with NATO leaders scheduled for June 11 and 12.
Expected to be on the agenda is NATO’s support for Kyiv, as well as Sweden’s desire to join the alliance, which is currently blocked by Turkey.
After his trip to Lithuania, Biden will go to Finland, which is the newest member of the NATO alliance.
Ukraine is not ‘ready’ for NATO membership, says Biden
The US president cast doubt on the possibility of Ukraine being offered NATO membership in comments to the CNN broadcaster.
“I don’t think it’s ready for NATO membership,” Biden told CNN in an interview that aired Sunday.
Biden said that while he hoped that NATO leaders would “lay out a reasonable path for Ukraine to be eligible to enter NATO”.
He said that to join the military alliance countries must “meet all the qualifications, from democratization to a whole range of issues.” He added that bringing Ukraine into the alliance now would mean “war with Russia.”
“I don’t think there is a consensus in NATO whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of the war,” he said.
Biden added that it will “take a long time” for Ukraine to become a member of NATO.
However, Biden said Washington could give Kyiv the same support it has given Israel until Ukraine joins NATO.
“The United States is ready to provide … security a la the security we provide for Israel.” He said this includes “giving them the weapon they need, the capacity to defend themselves.”
According to a recent report by the US Congressional Research Service, no other country in the world has received more US support than Israel since World War II.
Biden called Sweden into NATO during the call with Erdogan
Also on Sunday, the White House said Biden expressed a desire for Sweden to join NATO “as soon as possible” in a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
Sweden’s NATO bid requires unanimous consent from all member states, including Turkey. On Thursday, Stockholm failed to convince Ankara to approve Sweden’s participation in NATO in a meeting at the level of foreign ministers.
Erdogan told Biden that Sweden has taken steps in the right direction for Turkey to support the bid, Turkey’s presidential communications director said in a separate statement on Sunday.
However, it is said that the measures are counterproductive as supporters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) continue to hold demonstrations in Sweden.
sdi/wd (AP, dpa, Reuters)
