President Joe Biden said he wouldn’t support easing barriers for Ukraine to join NATO, saying the war-torn country has to “meet the same standards” as other nations in the transatlantic alliance. “They’ve done everything related to demonstrating the ability to coordinate militarily, but there’s a whole issue of, is their system secure?” Biden told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One. “Does it meet all the standards everyone, every other nation in NATO, does? I think it will. I think
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden said he wouldn’t support easing barriers for Ukraine to join NATO, saying the war-torn country has to “meet the same standards” as other nations in the transatlantic alliance. “They’ve done everything related to demonstrating the ability to coordinate militarily, but there’s a whole issue of, is their system secure?” Biden told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One. “Does it meet all the standards everyone, every other nation in NATO, does? I think it will. I think it can. But it’s not automatic.”
Heads of state and senior officials from seven African countries were meeting on Saturday with President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, a day after their talks in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Russia and Ukraine are vying for backing from Africa, which along with the rest of the developing world has been disproportionately impacted by the war and related disruptions to food supplies. About half of Africa’s 55 nations have supported UN resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion; others have sought to remain non-aligned. Putin also planned to hold a bilateral meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Kyiv’s troops made gains on at least three fronts on Friday as they press on with what’s expected to be a lengthy counteroffensive in the east and south. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Mailer said Ukraine had advanced as much as 2 kilometers in the south. Ukraine’s defense ministry repeated its urgent call for high-precision, long-range weapons.
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