MADRID – President Joe Biden will complete a six-day trip to Europe largely overshadowed by domestic issues and will meet with the press before heading home on Thursday.
Biden has scheduled a press conference at 8 am EDT, where he is expected to ask questions on international topics such as the war in Ukraine and relations between Russia and the West. He will also likely be asked about domestic issues such as the economy, abortion rights, and the committee’s final testimony on Jan. 6.
Biden’s Q&A with the media comes at the end of the three-day summit in which the US and its NATO allies sought to demonstrate determination against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.
It’s a wrap. This is what you missed.
NATO leaders declared Russia to be the “most significant and immediate threat” to the peace and security of its members and pledged to strengthen their support for Ukraine. Deployed in the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The US also said it would send two additional F-35 squadrons to the UK, station two more destroyers in Spain, and improve defense capabilities in Germany and Italy. Spain sat on Tuesday with leaders of the world’s economic powers at the Group of Seven summits in Germany. Over 2 1/2 days, G7 leaders discussed ways to help Ukraine repel a Russian offensive and moved closer to capping the price countries can pay for Russian oil to increase the cash flow of Putin in limits and lower prices at the pump.
‘A KICK IN THE LIFE’: Finland and Sweden’s drive to join NATO, defeat for Putin, victory for the West
PUTIN PAY: G-7 countries get closer to price cap for Russian oil; US official says the group is monitoring Putin’s cash flow
The last
Biden speaks: Ahead of his press conference, Biden will make remarks during a session of NATO’s decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council. NATO expansion: NATO leaders have officially invited Sweden and Finland to join the alliance. The invitation comes after Turkey dropped its objections to the Scandinavian countries’ membership. Final approval could take months as the legislative bodies of all 30 NATO countries must vote to accept their membership. Food security: On Wednesday, Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met on the sidelines of the NATO summit. Biden praised the Turkish leader for dropping his opposition to Finland and Sweden joining the NATO alliance and praised Erdoğan’s work to address food insecurity caused by the war in Ukraine.
US considers selling fighter jets to Turkey.
On Wednesday, the US expressed support for selling new F-16 fighter jets to Turkey ahead of a meeting in Madrid between Biden and the Turkish president.
Turkey had blocked Sweden and Finland’s applications to join NATO but removed its opposition from the summit on day one — hours after Biden spoke to Erdoğan by phone.
An official told reporters traveling with Biden in Madrid that the US has not offered Turkey anything to withdraw its objections. The president did not answer a question about the possible sale of F-16 jets later in the day.
What they say
“The United States supports Turkey’s modernization of its fighter fleet because it contributes to NATO’s security and thus to American security,” said Celeste Wallander, deputy secretary at the Department of Defense. At the table to talk about other issues Turkey is on to close the deal finally,” Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in an interview at the NATO summit. Durbin added that if a deal were struck because the US agreed to sell Turkey fighter jets, he would support the sale. “I think the accession of Finland and Sweden changes the calculation of NATO protection. Putin could not have imagined that NATO would be even stronger after his invasion,” he said.
CAN HE SUCCEED? Facing turmoil at home, Biden tries to keep NATO military alliance behind Ukraine.
Francesca Chambers and Michael Collins cover the White House. Follow Chambers on Twitter @fran_chambers and Collins @mcollinsNEWS.
