President Joe Biden promised Ukraine in a major speech Wednesday that its Western allies "will not waver" in their support in Ukraine's fight against Russia following a two-day NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

"We are steeled for the struggle ahead," Biden said, as he stood in front of American and Lithuanian flags before a large crowd in the courtyard of Vilnius University. "Our unity will not falter. I promise you."

"The defense of freedom is not the work of a day or a year. It's the calling of our lifetime — of all time," Biden added as he touted the strength of the NATO alliance, the 31-country mutual defense pact created after World War II.

"NATO is stronger, more energized and, yes, more united than ever in its history," Biden said. "Indeed, more vital to our shared future. It didn't happen by accident."

During his speech Wednesday evening, Biden praised Lithuania for its efforts to remain free after leaving the Soviet Union in the 1990s and called climate change the greatest challenge to mankind.

"We need to update our toolset to better address the needs of today in this interconnected world. A world where climate disasters, pandemics, conflicts spill over borders and make it harder to address the challenges of poverty and instability that hold so many people back," Biden said.

Biden's remarks come after two days of meetings at the NATO summit where allies put Ukraine on a path to NATO membership and members committed to give more than 2% of their gross domestic product to defense.

"Now, over the last few days, as president of the United States, I had the honor of participating in a historic NATO summit hosted by Lithuania, where we welcomed NATO's newest ally, Finland, and reached agreement to bring Sweden into the alliance as soon as possible," Biden said as the crowed cheered.

During the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met for an hour with Biden, which Zelensky called a "good, powerful" discussion, in addition to leaders from Canada, Britain, Japan, Germany and the Netherlands.

As this week's summit comes nearly 18 months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Biden emphasized the world remains at a crossroads. He called a secure Europe vital to prosperity in the United States and the rest of the world.

"We face a choice, a choice between a world defined by coercion and exploitation, where might makes right, or a world where we recognize that our own success is bound to the success of others — when others do better, we do better, as well."

Biden arrives in Finland after NATO summit: AFP
Helsinki (AFP) July 12, 2023 –

US President Joe Biden Wednesday arrived in Finland, which joined NATO in April, where he will meet Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and the prime ministers of the Nordic countries.

Following a visit to a NATO summit in Vilnius, Air Force One landed at Helsinki Airport outside of the Nordic country's capital 10:00 pm local time (1900 GMT), an AFP photographer on board the aircraft reported.

The Nordic country, which shares a border with Russia of over 1,300 kilometres (800-mile), ended its historic military non-alignment to enter NATO as a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Biden will be the first US president to visit Helsinki since Donald Trump's summit five years ago with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Besides Niinisto and the Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Biden will meet on Thursday with other Nordic prime ministers, namely Sweden's Ulf Kristersson, Norway's Jonas Gahr Store, Denmark's Mette Frederiksen and Iceland's Katrin Jakobsdottir.

The topic of the discussions is cooperation between the Nordic countries and the United States on security, environmental and technology issues.

Finland will be Biden's final stop on his European tour before returning to Washington on Thursday after meeting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London on Monday and attending the Vilnius summit.

In Vilnius, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suddenly reversed his stance on Sweden's NATO membership, after blocking the bid for more than a year and accusing Stockholm of harbouring Kurdish activists Ankara regards as terrorists.

The deal on Sweden followed a call with US President Joe Biden during which Erdogan raised both EU accession and Turkey's desire to acquire a large batch of F-16 fighter jets.

Biden's visit takes place following a contentious decision to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions, which most NATO member countries have banned but which the United States continues to hold.