NATO is also expected to announce an "irreversible" path for Ukraine to join the alliance.
The three-day summit will be hosted by the United States, which hosted the first one in 1949, also in Washington DC. Leaders and officials from allied countries are meeting in groups and bilaterally to discuss the threat posed to the alliance by Russia and China primarily, as well as Iran and North Korea.
"Today I announce a historic donation of air defense equipment to Ukraine," President Biden said at the opening of the NATO summit in Washington, at the same site where the inaugural summit was held in 1949.
"The United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Italy will provide Ukraine with equipment for five additional strategic air defense systems."
He added: "Make no mistake, Russia is failing in this war. More than two years into Putin's chosen war, its losses are staggering: more than 350,000 Russian soldiers dead or wounded; nearly 1 million Russians, many of them young people, "They have left Russia because they no longer see a future in Russia.
The summit is attended by leaders from the 32 allied countries and partner countries, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. The White House has said the allies will announce their intention to provide a minimum core funding of 40 billion euros ($43.2 billion) over the next year. They will also ensure sustainable levels of security assistance so that Ukraine prevails. The alliance has experienced unusual turmoil in recent years caused primarily by former President Donald Trump's unorthodox and critical views on its present and future. He threatened to leave the alliance if member countries did not meet the mutually agreed upon goal of spending at least 2 percent of their country's GDP on defense.
Biden kept his foot on the accelerator and, as he reported in his remarks, 23 of the countries will have met or crossed that goal by 2024. The remaining countries are expected to reach it soon.
"It is remarkable progress that we are ready, willing and able to deter aggression and defend every inch of NATO territory in all domains: land, air, sea, cyber and space," he said. .
U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan noted in an op-ed in The New York Times that, for the first time since the alliance's inception, "our European partners have borne more of the burden than the United States in a major conflict." ". He was referring to NATO contributions to Ukraine, which have faced questions in the United States about how long they can be funded.
The three-day summit will be hosted by the United States, which hosted the first one in 1949, also in Washington DC. Leaders and officials from allied countries are meeting in groups and bilaterally to discuss the threat posed to the alliance by Russia and China primarily, as well as Iran and North Korea.
"Today I announce a historic donation of air defense equipment to Ukraine," President Biden said at the opening of the NATO summit in Washington, at the same site where the inaugural summit was held in 1949.
"The United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Italy will provide Ukraine with equipment for five additional strategic air defense systems."
He added: "Make no mistake, Russia is failing in this war. More than two years into Putin's chosen war, its losses are staggering: more than 350,000 Russian soldiers dead or wounded; nearly 1 million Russians, many of them young people, "They have left Russia because they no longer see a future in Russia.
The summit is attended by leaders from the 32 allied countries and partner countries, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. The White House has said the allies will announce their intention to provide a minimum core funding of 40 billion euros ($43.2 billion) over the next year. They will also ensure sustainable levels of security assistance so that Ukraine prevails. The alliance has experienced unusual turmoil in recent years caused primarily by former President Donald Trump's unorthodox and critical views on its present and future. He threatened to leave the alliance if member countries did not meet the mutually agreed upon goal of spending at least 2 percent of their country's GDP on defense.
Biden kept his foot on the accelerator and, as he reported in his remarks, 23 of the countries will have met or crossed that goal by 2024. The remaining countries are expected to reach it soon.
"It is remarkable progress that we are ready, willing and able to deter aggression and defend every inch of NATO territory in all domains: land, air, sea, cyber and space," he said. .
U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan noted in an op-ed in The New York Times that, for the first time since the alliance's inception, "our European partners have borne more of the burden than the United States in a major conflict." ". He was referring to NATO contributions to Ukraine, which have faced questions in the United States about how long they can be funded.
