White House: Biden may hold bilateral meeting with Zelensky during NATO summit

Illustrative image: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and U.S. President Joe Biden meet in the Oval Office of the White House on Dec. 12, 2023. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

U.S. President Joe Biden may hold a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the upcoming NATO summit, a senior White House official said during a background press call on July 5, as cited by the White House.

"And while the president will have quite a busy schedule given his commitment as the host of the summit, we’re working to set up several bilats and meetings with various world leaders on the margins of the summit, including President Zelensky, again, as I mentioned earlier," the official said. "And we’ll have more information on those to share in the coming days."

The official also said that Biden would host an event with Zelensky "and nearly two dozen of our allies and partners who’ve signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine."

"The U.S. will also announce new steps to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses and military capabilities to help Ukraine continue to defend themselves today and to deter Russian aggression into the future," the official added.

The NATO Summit will be held in Washington on July 9-11.

It will also discuss ways to increase cooperation between Ukraine and South Korea, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on July 5.

"The flagship project is partly related to the medical education of Ukrainian soldiers," he said at a press conference in Washington. "We are also considering how we can expand the exchange of intelligence with South Korea."

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