On Wednesday, President Joe Biden met with the Bucharest Nine group of NATO countries— Eastern allies — to ensure security and support leading up to the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the White House stated.
The news: During Wednesday’s summit, Biden assured Eastern NATO countries that the United States is committed to upholding its end of Article 5, which states that an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all.
- “The commitment of the United States to NATO ... is absolutely clear. Article 5 is a sacred commitment the United States has made,” the president said, according to Reuters. “We will defend literally every inch of NATO, every inch of NATO.”
- Attending the meeting were the leaders of the Bucharest Nine countries, along with Biden and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, the White House said in a statement.
- During the meeting, Stoltenberg thanked Biden for his “outstanding leadership” and “steadfast support” of Ukraine over the past year, the NATO website reported.
Biden’s response to Russia: Biden’s remarks at the summit on Wednesday were his first since Russia announced that it would be backing out of the final U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control treaty, according to The Associated Press. Biden warned that this move was a “big mistake” on Russia’s part.
- The New START nuclear arms reduction treaty is an agreement between the U.S. and Russia— the world’s largest nuclear powers — meant to regulate the country’s nuclear weapons, per CNN.
- The Associated Press stated that Russia’s withdrawal means that the U.S. will not be able to have visibility into Russia’s nuclear activity.
The bigger picture: Approaching the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Eastern NATO countries are still apprehensive about what Russia may do to them in retaliation against the U.S.
- In a joint NATO statement released prior to Wednesday’s summit, per Reuters, the Bucharest Nine stated that “Russia is the most significant and direct threat to allied security.”
- Despite the worldwide tension, Stoltenberg stated that “NATO Allies have never been more united,” according to the NATO website. “We will protect and defend every inch of Allied territory based on our Article 5 commitment to defend each other.”
- “We don’t know when the war will end, but when it does, we need to ensure that history does not repeat itself,” Stoltenberg continued. “We cannot allow Russia to continue to chip away at European security. We must break the cycle of Russian aggression.”