President Biden is set to meet King Charles and discuss climate change before joining NATO leaders for a summit in Lithuania, with the focus of his five-day trip being Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Key meeting: President Biden is scheduled to meet King Charles at Windsor Castle on Monday to discuss financing climate aid for developing countries most impacted by climate change.
* President Biden will also hold his sixth meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak since the latter took office in October, with the war in Ukraine expected to be a major discussion point.
Membership disagreement: The pending NATO membership for Sweden continues to be unresolved.
* Despite President Biden’s highlighting of Russia’s invasion prompting neutral countries Finland and Sweden to apply to join NATO, Sweden’s membership has been blocked by Turkey and Hungary.
* Turkey’s President Erdogan has expressed that Sweden isn’t taking adequate action against groups Turkey views as terrorists. However, Sinan Ceddi from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies suggests that Erdogan’s stance is a leverage point to obtain weapons sales from the United States.
Potential trade: The sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, supported by the Biden administration but needing Congressional approval, could be a bargaining chip to push through Sweden’s NATO application.
* Notably, some lawmakers, including Sen. Bob Menendez, the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, oppose the sale.
Ukraine’s NATO ambition: The NATO expansion isn’t limited to Sweden; Ukraine also wishes to join the military alliance but needs to make “further steps” before being allowed to join, according to Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
* Ukraine’s relationship with the NATO is set to be a key discussion point at the upcoming Vilnius summit.
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