Vladimir Putin has already lost the war in Ukraine. This is what US President Joe Biden said at the press conference in Helsinki with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto after the summit with the Nordic leaders, while expressing the hope that Kiev's counteroffensive will force Moscow to sit down at the negotiating table.
"Russia cannot continue the war in Ukraine for years and sooner or later Putin will decide that it is not in Russia's interest to continue it. Ukraine's counteroffensive will probably push Russia toward negotiations. "Ukraine will join NATO," Biden then assured.
The US president played down Putin's threats from Helsinki, saying he sees no "real prospect" of the Kremlin using nuclear weapons.
Ievgheny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenaries, "must be careful what he eats", concluded the US president, alluding to the risk of poisoning after Prigozhin's failed revolt.
Biden also used the visit to Finland, NATO's newest member, to pledge that Ukraine will one day join the alliance, despite NATO leaders not giving a timeline to Kiev at the summit. week in Vilnius.
NATO leaders dashed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky's hopes for a clear timeline for joining the military alliance, speaking at this week's summit in Vilnius.
But even though Biden said no country can become a member of NATO while it is at war, he vowed that Kiev would one day join the alliance.
On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that "Ukraine's membership in NATO would create a threat to Russia's security".