Biden planned to publicly call for Ukraine's invitation to join NATO - mass media

The newly elected US President Donald Trump, who will take office in January 2025, is likely to try to end the Russian-Ukrainian war through negotiations. Therefore, at the end of his term, the current US President Joe Biden is trying to improve Ukraine's position by making a number of decisions that will help Ukrainian soldiers weaken Russia's military capabilities.

The Biden administration also considered making a public call to invite Ukraine to join NATO. Bloomberg reports this, citing sources.

Given Trump's promises to "immediately end the grinding war" between Russia and Ukraine, and the fact that the newly elected US president is likely to try to do so by bringing Kyiv to the negotiating table with Moscow, Biden is ending his term with a series of steps to strengthen Ukraine's negotiating position and the country's army.

For example, he recently authorized Ukraine to strike military targets deep in Russia, which caused outrage in both Moscow and the Trump camp, which mentioned "needless escalation."

In addition, Biden approved the transfer of anti-personnel land mines to deter the advance of Russian troops, "forgave" Ukraine almost $5 billion in debt, and imposed sanctions on one of the largest Russian banks through which payments for Russian gas are made.

The source notes that this is only part of Biden's broader plan to strengthen Ukraine as much as possible before Trump takes office.

"The strategy is intended to help Zelenskiy by showing that Ukraine has the potential to retaliate against Russia if it continues hostilities," Bloomberg quoted the source as saying.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin reacted to these steps by approving a new nuclear doctrine that expands the list of grounds for the use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, and also ordered a strike on Dnipro with an experimental ballistic missile Kedr/Oreshnik, which can carry nuclear warheads.

Bloomberg writes that Biden's latest moves do not necessarily run counter to Trump's interests. After all, the latter could benefit from a stronger Ukraine during the settlement, which could be presented as a victory for the United States.

"Some of the decisions Biden is making now could help Trump, by likely putting Trump in a stronger place to end the war, with Ukraine in a stronger position for any negotiations," said Shelby Magid, deputy director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.

Meanwhile, the White House and the Pentagon are actively using the remaining funds allocated by Congress for Ukraine's defense as about $9 billion is left.

"President Biden has committed to making sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and Jan. 20th (Trump's inauguration date - Ed.). We’re making sure that Ukraine has the air defenses it needs, that has the artillery it needs, that has the armored vehicles it needs," Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters at NATO headquarters earlier this month.

At the same time, Bloomberg writes that Biden's ability to increase arms supplies to Ukraine is limited, as most of the remaining money can only be used for weapons that are available in the Pentagon's warehouses. Delaying too long would jeopardize the US's own defense.

"The Biden administration had also considered publicly calling for an official invitation to join NATO, but decided against it given the slim likelihood of success in the short term. Putin has also framed membership, which the allies said in July was inevitable, as a casus belli. Instead, a series of bilateral security arrangements would be cobbled together to provide Ukraine with assurances," the newspaper states.

Earlier, The Hill published an article stating that Biden had finally stopped being afraid of Putin's threats. This opinion comes after he authorized Ukraine to use ATACMS long-range missile systems against targets in Russia. Biden's lifting of restrictions on the use of American weapons gave the green light for the relevant decision regarding the British Storm Shadow and French SCALP.

Because of this, The Hill believes that at the end of his term, the US president decided not to hold back because of the Russian nuclear threat.

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