President Joe Biden opted out of a dinner with his NATO counterparts in Vilnius, Lithuania, with United States officials citing his busy schedule abroad.
"Biden is not attending tonight’s dinner with NATO leaders," a U.S. official told reporters Tuesday. The official said the president has"four full days of official business and is preparing for a big speech tomorrow, in addition to another day at the summit."The dinner was never part of Biden's itinerary, with plans for Secretary of State Antony Blinken to represent the president at the event instead.
Biden spent the day participating in NATO ceremonial activities and the heads of state and government meeting, as well as bilateral sit-downs with Presidents Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. On Wednesday, he has more NATO meetings, including one of the NATO-Ukraine Council, and is expected to deliver remarks before flying to Helsinki, Finland for the U.S.-Nordic Leaders Summit and its sideline engagements.
Biden's meeting with Erdogan came one day after the Turkish president announced his support for Sweden becoming a NATO member following a year of opposition to the move."Now you are getting prepared for the forthcoming elections," Erdogan told Biden."And with the forthcoming elections, I would like to take this opportunity to also wish you the best of luck."
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