What Biden needs to accomplish with his NATO trip

President Joe Biden embarks on a weeklong trip to Europe on Sunday, and the stakes couldn’t be higher for the future of the NATO alliance.

Biden makes a stop in London ahead of his attendance at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, followed by meetings with Nordic leaders in Helsinki, Finland. The backdrop, of course, is Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and last month’s failed coup attempt in Russia, posing the biggest threat to global stability for the alliance in recent history.

Biden will be a key player on a host of critical issues for the alliance as they gather in Vilnius, a city on NATO’s eastern frontier that sits approximately 20 miles from the Belarusian border. The summit will present a key test for the alliance’s continued remarkable level of unity after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and its credibility.

There will be questions about a pathway for Ukraine to joining NATO, and whether members are able to agree on Sweden’s bid for accession. Also at issue is the next steps for the war a month into Ukraine’s counteroffensive, questions about a potential endgame, and what long-term security assistance the leaders can offer to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s path to NATO membership is taking on increasing urgency and is likely to be one of the biggest flash points for the group as the war drags on – especially in the aftermath of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s abortive mutiny, which exposed cracks in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military leadership and posed a potentially existential threat to his regime.

NATO first welcomed Ukraine’s membership aspirations during a 2008 meeting in Bucharest, Romania, but little progress has been made and the timeline remains uncertain. And while the US has said Ukraine will not be joining NATO as a member coming out of this meeting, the Vilnius summit presents a critical opportunity…