US President Joe Biden opened the NATO summit in Washington, emphasizing the importance of the alliance and international stability, conveyed BTA.
The United States and a number of other NATO countries will send dozens of air defense systems to Ukraine in the coming months, including at least four Patriot systems, Biden said in his speech.
Calling for more support from its Western allies, Kiev is specifically pushing for more air defense assets to repel the Russian invaders. Arriving in Washington yesterday for the NATO meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he would fight for strong decisions to support his country, specifically mentioning "more air defense assets and more F-16 (fighter jets)" .
Amid mounting calls for him to withdraw from November's US presidential election after his lackluster performance in televised debates with Republican nominee Donald Trump late last month, Democrat Biden used his speech to counter his foreign policy views to those of its rival, notes the BBC.
AFP says the summit is being overshadowed by Trump, even though he is not present, as many allies worry about NATO's future if the man who called the alliance "obsolete" and threatened not to defend those countries that don't give enough money to defense, back to the White House.
Biden was speaking at a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of NATO. It took place in the "Andrew Mellon" Auditorium. - the hall in which the North Atlantic Treaty was signed on April 4, 1949.
The ceremony was attended by acting Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitar Glavchev, who leads the Bulgarian delegation to the NATO summit in Washington.
The Prime Minister stated in a conversation with Biden that Bulgaria is a loyal and reliable ally in NATO. The American president, for his part, highly appreciated Bulgaria's role on NATO's eastern flank, the government press service reported.
Retiring NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was awarded the highest US civilian award - the Presidential Medal of Freedom, DPA reported.
The medal was presented to him personally by US President Joe Biden at the opening ceremony of the high-level meeting of the defense alliance in Washington.
"Mr. Secretary, you have guided this union through one of the most important periods in its history," Biden said. "When Russia's war in Ukraine began, you did not hesitate. "Today, NATO is stronger, smarter and more energized than when you started," Biden told Stoltenberg. "And one billion people in Europe and North America - indeed, all over the world - will reap the fruits of your labor in the coming years in the form of security, opportunity and greater freedom,' he added.
Biden praised the "calm temperament" of Stoltenberg and described him as "a man of honor and intellectual discipline", and also as an "excellent diplomat".
Stoltenberg has led the alliance since 2014. In October, he will hand over the post to former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.