President Joe Biden will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO summit on Wednesday, an official familiar with the meeting has confirmed.
The meeting will mark a sign of unity as Zelensky's attendance at the summit had been in question. Russia's war in Ukraine is among the top agenda items for NATO leaders along with discussing a future pathway for the war-torn country to join the alliance, which has prompted some division among leaders.
Politico was first to report the meeting.
Ukraine is set to dominate the summit's agenda as the US president looks to keep the group united behind Zelensky in the face of Russia's invasion. The alliance is facing questions about a potential path to NATO membership for Ukraine, as well as additional military assistance as its counteroffensive continues.
Biden poured cold water on the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO as the war is ongoing and cited reforms the country would still need to make to join the alliance.
"I don't think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war," Biden told CNN's Fareed Zakaria last week.
Zelensky had previously said he does not plan on attending the summit "for fun" as he seeks a clearer pathway for his country to join the alliance along with security guarantees.
"It would be an important message to say that NATO is not afraid of Russia. Ukraine should get clear security guarantees while it is not in NATO. Only under these conditions, our meeting would be meaningful, otherwise it's just another politics," Zelensky said in an interview with ABC.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
