US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, July 9, at the NATO summit in Washington, vowed to defend and support Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
According to CNN, Biden pledged that ‘the United States will make sure that when we export critical air defence interceptors, Ukraine goes to the front of the line,’ adding, “They will get this assistance before anyone else gets it.”
The 81-year-old said during his speech, “(Vladimir) Putin wants nothing less, nothing less, than Ukraine's total subjugation... and to wipe Ukraine off the map. Ukraine can and will stop Putin… The war will end with Ukraine remaining a free and independent country. Russia will not prevail. Ukraine will prevail."
The Democratic candidate for president also announced plans to supply new air defences for Ukraine, along with the NATO allies Germany, Romania, and Italy.
Moreover, later, the White House issued a joint statement with Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof, German chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy providing more details about the air defence package.
The joint statement read, “We are providing Ukraine with additional strategic air defence systems, including additional Patriot batteries donated by the United States, Germany, and Romania; Patriot components donated by the Netherlands and other partners to enable the operation of an additional Patriot battery; and an additional SAMP-T system donated by Italy.”
The joint allies also assured that they would protect Ukrainian cities, civilians, and soldiers with these five strategic air defence systems.
