US President Joe Biden will meet his fellow NATO leaders on Tuesday for a landmark 75th-anniversary summit aimed at projecting strength and shoring up support for Ukraine in its defence against the Russian invasion.
Questions surrounding Biden's mental fitness for office, however, loom over the summit, as the US presidential race heats up between the president and his predecessor, long-time NATO critic Donald Trump.
Outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that leaders will also discuss his proposed plan to provide Ukraine with military aid worth €40 billion ($43 billion) in 2025.
According to Stoltenberg, the point is to convince Russia that it cannot win its war against Ukraine by waiting for Western support to wither.
But the €40-billion pledge has been watered down from the multi-year financial commitment for Ukraine that Stoltenberg initially wanted allies to adopt. The alliance will review the military aid again next year, weakening the package further.
Stoltenberg also said he expects new commitments at the Washington summit to provide Ukraine with more air defence systems to protect against Russia's bombing attacks.
The summit is Stoltenberg's last as secretary general. Former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte is set to take over in October.
On Tuesday before the start of the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky laid a wreath at a monument in Washington to the victims of the 1930s Ukrainian famine.
Zelensky travelled with his wife Olena, according to Freedom, a Ukrainian state-owned television station for Ukrainians abroad. He also met members of the Ukrainian diaspora.
The Ukrainian president hopes that the meeting of national leaders from the 32 NATO countries - including Biden and the United Kingdom's new prime minister, Keir Starmer - will clarify Ukraine's prospects for membership and strengthen military support for Ukraine's defensive war.
Since 2019, Ukraine has had its NATO membership ambitions enshrined in its national constitution. But all current NATO countries must agree unanimously before that can happen.
The United States and Germany are the main opponents of Ukraine joining NATO too soon, diplomatic sources within the alliance said on Monday.
A source referred to the US and Germany's "strong opposition" towards inviting Ukraine to join the alliance without fulfilling the necessary preconditions.
"In the end, it will be a decision by the allies to invite Ukraine to join NATO," the source said.
In an interview with dpa ahead of the summit, Stoltenberg said he hopes Ukraine can join NATO within the next 10 years, aligning himself with allies who are counting on prompt progress to admit Ukraine, which was actually agreed in principle in 2008.
Another part of the secretary general's plan to make long-term NATO commitments to Ukraine is a new support project for Ukraine called NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), approved by NATO defence ministers in June.
The project, based in the German city of Wiesbaden, is to be staffed by 700 officials. Previously, NATO countries have been coordinating support to Ukraine through an informal, US-led group called the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.
Allies are also expected to commit to working more closely together to expand production in their defence industries as well as develop more joint procurement projects together.
Also attending the summit is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin on a surprise trip to Moscow after visiting Kiev for the first time since Russia invaded.
Stoltenberg said he expects allies to discuss Orbán's meeting with Putin and "address the discussions he had in Moscow."
The Hungarian prime minister also took an unannounced visit to China, holding talks with President Xi Jinping on what he described as a "peace mission" before the NATO summit.
NATO allies view Beijing as an important backer of Russia and are set to discuss Chinese support for the Russian economy, especially Chinese trade with Russia that includes technology critical to the Russian defence industry.
Before the summit, China accused NATO of stoking tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, where the alliance has been cultivating partnerships with friendly countries.
A series of commemorative anniversary events are scheduled in Washington on Tuesday, with the alliance's formal talks planned to start on Wednesday.
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