WASHINGTON (CN) — President Joe Biden celebrated the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Tuesday, lauding his commitment to the military alliance amid escalations in the Ukraine-Russia war, and addressing the looming 2024 election and questions surrounding his candidacy.
Biden’s speech capped the first of a three-day summit in the nation’s capital, where he forcefully reaffirmed his commitment to defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort and announced a new shipment of air defense systems to Ukraine.
“Today NATO is stronger than it’s ever been in its history,” Biden said Tuesday. “When this senseless war began, Ukraine was a free country, today it is still a free country. The war will end with Ukraine remaining a free country. Russia will not prevail, Ukraine will prevail.”
The announcement comes a day after several Russian missile strikes killed 36 people and injured over 149 across central and eastern Ukraine and destroyed a children’s hospital in Kyiv.
Biden did not directly address the strikes in his 12-minute speech before leaders of the other 31 NATO member states, delegates from the European Union, allies from certain Indo-Pacific nations and bipartisan members of Congress.
He instead focused on the alliance’s historic milestone — with its 75th year, NATO passed the ancient Greek Delian League as the longest lasting military alliance in history — and goal to protect fellow democratic nations against “autocrats and terrorist groups.”
Biden also lauded the recent March addition of Sweden and Finland to the alliance, as well as the increased economic participation among member states.
According to NATO in a June 12 report, the number of member states providing 2% of their gross domestic product on defense increased from nine countries in 2020, when Biden took office, to 23 states in 2024.
Fellow NATO members Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Romania joined with the United States in its commitment to send tactical air defense systems to Ukraine.
To celebrate the alliance’s growth, Biden awarded NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his 10 years in the top role.
The three-day NATO summit has been viewed as a bellwether for Biden and his campaign against former President Donald Trump, following a poor debate performance against the GOP frontrunner on June 27.
In the intervening days, more than a half dozen House Democrats have called for the 81-year-old Biden to drop out of the race and allow a younger candidate to face off against Trump on Nov. 5.
Biden rebuffed such calls from high-profile lawmakers like New York Representative Jerry Nadler and California Representative Mark Takano, demanding an end to such questions in a letter to congressional Democrats on Monday.
The president is set to participate in multiple NATO summit events through Thursday, including a dinner with NATO allies, multiple working sessions over both days and ending with a press conference Thursday evening.
Stoltenberg, speaking before Biden, credited the original 12 member states for making the “bold and controversial” decision in 1949 to create the alliance, which he described as an effort to communicate with the Soviet Union, and avoid “nuclear armageddon.”
Like Biden, he focused on the Ukraine-Russia war, calling it the “biggest security threat in generations” and crediting Ukraine for resisting Russian advances into the country.
Stoltenberg made an apparent reference to recent struggles securing extensive military aid for Ukraine from Europe and the U.S., reminding leaders that there are “no cost-free options” with an aggressive neighbor like Russia.
“The time to stand for freedom and democracy is now,” Stoltenberg said Tuesday. “The place is Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in attendance Tuesday, and will be a central figure throughout the remainder of the summit. Zelenskyy and his predecessors have long pushed for Ukraine to also be admitted to NATO, but to little success.
Member states have pushed against admitting Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, over concerns that as members of a defensive pact, all 32 nations would immediately enter the war against Russia and risk further escalation.
Zelenskyy thanked the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Romania for promising to provide more air defense systems in a post on X, formerly Twitter, and called for additional support against Russia.
“We can and must deprive Russia of the ability to terrorize Ukraine,” Zelenskyy wrote Tuesday. “The sooner we put an end to Russian terror, the sooner the security of all peace-loving nations will be enhanced.”