A meeting between President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky "went very well," the US president said Wednesday, APA reports citin g CNN.
“We spent about an hour together and I think we’re on the right track," Biden told reporters Wednesday as he departed the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. "So I’m feeling good about the trip and you know, we accomplished every goal we set out to accomplish."
He noted that “there was some cynicism about whether I could talk the Turks into Sweden,” a reference to Turkey's last-minute agreement to permit Sweden to join the military alliance.
Biden said he is confident Turkey will continue its support of Sweden's membership as well as of US Congressional approval for the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara.
Biden said he does not see Kyiv joining NATO until “the war is over,” but shed some light on his conversation with the Ukrainian president.
“Look, the one thing Zelensky understands now is that whether or not he’s in NATO now is not relevant as long as he has the commitments,” he said, comparing the situation to “how we deal with Israel.
“So he’s not concerned,” Biden said.
Asked about the Ukrainian counteroffensive, Biden said he is “not at liberty to give you the detail of that – we talked at length about it with all of his military people there and they’re still optimistic but they know it’s a hard slog.”
Biden said Ukraine already has “the equivalent of ATACMS,” which are long-range missiles, but needs artillery shells. He added that Ukraine was “very satisfied” with what was being provided.
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