President Biden is expected to travel to Brussels, Belgium, next week for a NATO summit on Russia’s war in Ukraine, the White House said Tuesday.
Biden will join the “extraordinary” NATO summit that will convene March 24.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president will “discuss the ongoing deterrence and defense efforts in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine as well as to reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our NATO allies.”
Biden is also set to join a scheduled European Council Summit to discuss “shared concerns about Ukraine, including transatlantic efforts to impose economic costs on Russia, provide humanitarian support to those effected by the violence, and to address other challenges related to the conflict.”
Psaki said Biden’s “goal” is “to meet in person, face to face, with his European counterparts and talk about and assess where we are at this point in the conflict.”
“The president is a big believer in face to face diplomacy,” Psaki said, adding that the summit is “an opportunity to do exactly that.”
As for whether Biden will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his trip to Europe, Psaki said the White House is “still finalizing the trip at this point in time.”
“The real focus right now is to meet with NATO partners in Brussels,” Psaki said. “If there are additional steps, we’ll share all those details with all of you.”
