Biden Will Meet NATO Chief Today to Discuss Ukraine and Succession
President Biden is hosting the NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, at the White House on Tuesday afternoon to discuss long-term strategy in Ukraine and who will oversee the 31-member military alliance moving forward.
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The visit comes during a critical time for the Western alliance, as Ukraine mounts a counteroffensive to regain territory claimed by Russia and as NATO members prepare for a summit next month in Vilnius, Lithuania. The White House has also in recent weeks faced questions over whom Mr. Biden supports as a successor for Mr. Stoltenberg, who has led the alliance since 2014 and is expected to step down in September.
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"The president believes that whoever is the secretary general of NATO should be an individual who the entire alliance can get behind and lead the alliance into the future, because there's a transformative future ahead of the alliance," John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said on Monday. "Whenever this war ends, however it ends, NATO is going to be different."
Various nations are jockeying for their own officials to succeed Mr. Stoltenberg and Mr. Biden's opinion brings considerable weight since the United States spends more than any other member of the alliance on defense.
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