Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

President Biden Delivers Address At NATO Summit. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 12, 2023 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:00:00]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We all want this war to end on just terms, terms that uphold the basic principles of the United Nations Charter that we all signed up to, sovereignty, territorial integrity.

These are two pillars of peaceful relations among nations. One country cannot be allowed to seize its neighbor's territory by force. Russia could end this war tomorrow by withdrawing its forces from Ukraine, recognize international borders, and ceasing its attacks on -- its inhumane attacks on Russia -- I mean, by Russia on Ukraine, against its children, women and children, its military.

Unfortunately, Russia has shown thus far no interest in the diplomatic outcome. Putin still wrongly believes that he can outlast Ukraine. He can't believe it's their land, their country, and their future. And even after all this time, Putin still doubts our staying power. He's still making a bad bet that the conviction and the unity among the United States and our allies and partners will break down.

He still doesn't understand that our commitment, our values, our freedom is something he can never, never, ever, ever walk away from. It's who we are.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: I mean it. It's who we are. It's who we are.

Throughout this horrific war, the people of Lithuania, together with our Baltic brethren, have been among the fiercest -- most fierce champions of Ukraine's right to a future of its own choosing, one that is free, because, you live so long with freedom denied, many of you who are older know better than anyone how precious the right to determine your own future is, precious to people everywhere, everywhere, not just in Ukraine, but Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, and all the places around the world where people continue to fight to make their voices heard.

So my message, my message to all of you tonight is, keep it up. Keep it going. Keep reminding the world of hope that Lithuania embodies. And that's what you embody, hope, in this country.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: No, I really mean it. I'm not joking. I mean this sincerely.

We must never forget how much this matters and never, never give up on a better tomorrow. The defense of freedom is not the work of a day or a year. It's the calling of our lifetime, of all time. We are steeled for the struggle ahead. Our unity will not falter, I promise you.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: Folks, as I look around the world today at a moment of war and peril, a moment of competition and uncertainty, I also see a moment of unprecedented opportunity, unprecedented opportunity, opportunity to make real strides for the world of greater peace and greater prosperity, liberty and dignity, equal justice under the law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, which are the blessing and birthright of all of humanity.

That, that is the world the United States is working toward. And it's one we will only reach if we do it together. And I mean together. We need to take the same spirit of unity, common purpose, determination that we have demonstrated in our response to the Russian aggression in Ukraine and bring more partners along as we continue working to build a world we want to live in and a world we want for our children.

My friends, at the most fundamental level, we face a choice. It's not hyperbole. 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. Where we understand that the challenges we face today, from the existential threat of climate change, to building a global economy where no one gets left behind, are too great for any one nation to solve on their own. And that, to achieve our goals and meet the challenges of this age, we have to work together.

And I mean this sincerely. The world's changing. We have a chance to change the dynamic. That's why I have been so focused as president on rebuilding and revitalizing these alliances that are the cornerstone of American leadership in the world.

These past years, we have brought the transatlantic partnership to new heights, reaffirming the importance of the relationship between Europe and the United States as an anchor to global stability. The idea that the United States could prosper without a secure Europe is not reasonable. We have also elevated it...

[13:05:00]

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: That's -- it really isn't. Not a joke.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: I have sometimes -- well, we're also elevated and deepened the American alliance in the Indo-Pacific with Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, the Philippines, which provide critical security and deterrence in that vital region of the world.

Through our Quad partnership -- it's a fancy way of saying our partnership with Australia, India, Japan and the United States -- we're bringing major democracies of the region together to cooperate, keeping the Indo-Pacific free and open, prosperous and secure.

We have demonstrated during this NATO summit, with Indo-Pacific partners joining us for the second year in a row, we're working to deepen connections between the Atlantic and Pacific democracies, so that we can better work together toward the shared values we all seek, strong alliances, versatile partnerships, common purpose, collective action to meet our shared challenges.

The world has shrunk. That's how we build a future to see -- but we share and know we share challenges and work together. We have to step up together, building the broadest and deepest coalition to strengthen and defend the basic rules of the road, to preserve all the extraordinary benefits that stem from the international system grounded in the rule of law.

We have to come together to protect rights and freedoms, to underwrite the flow of ideas and commerce, and which have enabled decades of global growth, yes, territorial integrity and sovereignty, but also principles like freedom of navigation and overflight, keeping our shared seas and skies open so that every nation has equal access to our global common space.

And as we continue to explore this age of new possibilities,an age enabled by rapid advances in innovation, we have to stand together, ensure that the common spaces of our future reflect our highest aspirations for ourselves and for others, as my dad would say, that everybody has -- is treated with some dignity, so that artificial intelligence, engineering, biology and other engineering technologies, emerging technologies, are not made into weapons of oppression, but rather used as tools of opportunity.

Working with our allies and partners to build the supply chains that are more resilient, more secure, so we never again face a situation like we had during the pandemic, where we couldn't get critical goods we needed for our daily lives.

You know, we all must summon the common will to actually address the existential threat of accelerating climate change. It's real. It's serious. And we don't have a lot of time. It is the, the single greatest threat to humanity.

It's only by working together that we will prevent the worst consequences of climate change from ravaging our future and that of our children and grandchildren. We also have to recognize our shared responsibility to help unlock the enormous potential that exists in low- and middle-income companies (sic) around the world, not out of charity, because it's in our own self-interests.

We all benefit when more partners stand together working towards shared goals. We all benefit when people are healthier and more prosperous. And that's not, again, hyperbole. It's true. We all benefit when more entrepreneurs and innovators are able to pursue their dreams for a better tomorrow.

So we need to update our tool set 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.

That's why the United States is leading an effort to transform the multilateral development banks like the World Bank, help them better address the global challenges, while enhancing their core mission of reducing poverty and boost shared prosperity.

We're all working together with our partners in the G7 to address the enormous needs for high-standard infrastructure around the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

It's a statement about the world we want to build together. Ladies and gentlemen, we stand at an inflection point, an inflection point in history, where the choices we make now are going to shape the direction of our world for decades to come.

The world has changed. Will we turn back naked unchecked aggression today to deter other world would-be aggressors tomorrow? Will we staunch the climate crisis before it's too late? Will we harness the new technologies to advance freedom, or will we diminish it?

[13:10:11]

Will we advance opportunity in more places or allow instability and equality to persist? How we answer these essential questions is literally going to determine the kind of future our children and grandchildren have. And, again, that's not an exaggeration. It's a fact.

It's going to take all of us,all of us. I believe that, with ambition, with confidence in ourselves and one another, with nations working together for common cause, we can answer these questions. We can ensure the vision we share and the freedoms we cherish are not just empty words in a troubled time, but a road map.

I mean this literally, a road map, a plan of urgent action toward a future we can reach, we will reach if we work together. Folks, the road that lies before us is hard. It will challenge us, some of the best of ourselves, to hold faith in one another and never give up, never lose hope, never.

Every day, we have to make the choice. Every day, we must summon the strength to stand for what is right, to stand for what is true, to stand for freedom, to stand together. That, my friends, is the lesson we learn from history and the history of the Lithuanian story.

You know, it's a lesson we see demonstrated each day. And it will determine, it will determine what Ukraine looks like. And it's now. It's how we're going to work, how we rewrite the future, the peace and hope, justice and light, liberty, possibility for everyone, everyone everywhere.

Folks, some have heard me say to my country many times, never, ever in my entire career have been more optimistic about the prospects of the future, never, never.

Let me just say, thank you for taking the time to be here to listen. God bless you all, and may God protect the freedoms and the protectors of freedom in Ukraine here, and every nation in the world everywhere.

God protect our troops. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We just heard very, very strong words from the president of the United States, President Biden, wrapping up a very dramatic NATO summit right here in Vilnius, Lithuania.

I'm Wolf Blitzer. I have a team of CNN reporters who are joining me right now.

And, Natasha Bertrand, you listened very closely. What jumped out at you? This wasn't -- to me, it wasn't just a speech about Ukraine and NATO. This was a global speech. He addressed a lot of international issues.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: It was a very wide- ranging speech, ranging from issues like climate change to, of course, the unity of the G7 and NATO.

But the overarching themes were freedom and unity. And that is what he sought to drive home during this speech. That was very optimistic, actually. He laid out all of these challenges, of course, that the world is facing right now. But, ultimately, he said that he believes that the allies with the United States will be able to come together and successfully solve some of these major, major challenges.

Now, in terms of what stood out to me about Ukraine, he did say again that the U.S. stands with Ukraine for as long as it takes. And that is a really key commitment here, because, as we know, that is getting tougher. That is getting harder for the U.S., especially given the shortages that we are seeing in certain supplies that the U.S. is providing to Ukraine, namely, ammunition.

That is exactly why the president decided to green-light cluster ammunitions to Ukraine, because he said that the U.S. is running low on ammunition to provide to the country. But that doesn't seem to be deterring the U.S. in terms of what we heard from his speech. He said that they still stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.

Notably, he did not mention in his speech Ukraine's place in NATO. He decided to just let, I guess, the day's events kind of speak for itself there. But the message was still very clear and it was unmistakable that the U.S. views the fight between Russia and Ukraine as a fight between freedom and authoritarianism and as something that goes beyond, of course, just the borders of Ukraine. It is an existential question for the future of Europe, for the future of democracy. And so I think that that's the message that he sought to drive home here. And this is all in continuation of the message that he was sharing today while he was at NATO and the conversations that he had with other leaders.

[13:15:01]

Clearly, this is not a fight, the war in Ukraine, that they are going to abandon anytime soon, Wolf.

BLITZER: And he made it clear. At one point, I wrote it down, he said: "Our unity will not falter."

So critically important to have a unified NATO alliance, G7, E.U., all of that the president was talking about, because it's so critically important, clearly, to Ukraine right now as well.

Arlette Saenz, you're there over at the university, where the president just spoke. He was very well received by that crowd that had gathered there. This was clearly, Arlette, a very confident President Biden. He stressed this isn't just about what's happening in Ukraine right now. It's -- truly, he says it's a historic show of unity that key -- that's key to future global stability.

Talk a little bit about that.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, President Biden was really trying to drive home with this speech that the U.S. and its allies remain unified around Ukraine. He said, "We will not waver" and stressed that they were in it for the long haul to make sure that they continue to support them.

He also was trying to stress the unity and the strength of the NATO alliance, a key theme throughout this summit here in Vilnius. And he said that the NATO alliance has become stronger, more energized, and more united.

President Biden and his team really feel that the president has been a leader in the reinvigoration of the NATO alliance, as it took some hits over the years in the previous administration. And the president has sought, as he is here, to try to bring the NATO allies together, not only to strengthen their own defense initiatives and priorities, but also to throw their backing behind Ukraine.

The president also sends a very strong message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that he made a bad bet by going into Ukraine and that he thought that leaders would waver, that they would break, but that they were wrong.

But I think this speech also speaks to the broader global view that President Biden has about his foreign policy. He was trying to stress that fighting for freedom is not just something that they're doing for a few days or a few weeks or a few months, but it's a calling of a lifetime is what he said. And he also was trying to stress how the unity that the world has seen

as the Western allies have come together to support Ukraine, that that is also unity that can be carried out to other issues that are affecting the world, including climate change and technology.

I was also struck by this one line that he said, where he said that it's clear that there's a choice in this world that could be defined by coercion and exploitation, where might makes rights, or where a world where people recognize their own successes hinge on other successes as well.

The president really trying to spread this message tonight of unity and working collaboratively across the world to try to solve major issues, not just when it comes to Ukraine, not just when it comes to strengthening the alliance, but it really speaks to his global view of the way that democracy and freedoms can work across the world.

BLITZER: Arlette, I want you to stand by as well.

Alex Marquardt is joining us right now. He's inside Ukraine in Lubny right now.

This speech, today's meetings with Zelenskyy and others, this summit clearly sees NATO expanding right now by one. Talking about Sweden. The underlying message, though, from the president of the United States, that Vladimir Putin's invasion has backfired. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I want to thank to all Americans.

We understand that it's more than $43 billion for today. It's big support. And I understand that it's all your money. But you have to know that you spend this money for not just fighting. You spend this money for our lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, Alex, you're there inside Ukraine right now. Give us a sense of how the people where you are, the Ukrainians, are reacting to this message coming from NATO and coming from the president of the United States.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I do think it will be very well received.

I mean, this was a rallying cut cry for NATO, for Europe to essentially stay the course and to keep supporting Ukraine, the president highlighting how long the NATO alliance has been supporting Ukraine, all the weapons that they have sent here.

This does come at a critical moment. We are coming up on 17 months of this war. The counteroffensive that was launched about a month ago has made no major gains. It is quite slow-going. There is concern, certainly among Ukrainians, among Ukrainian leadership, that could lead to fatigue, that could lead to a lack of interest, lead to a fracturization of the NATO alliance.

And that is certainly something that Ukraine is fighting hard to -- fighting hard against. We know from President Biden and others, who have said that President Putin of Russia certainly believes that it is in his interest to wait this out.

[13:20:13]

So this was a rallying call and a reminder not just to Ukraine and to the rest of the NATO alliance, but to Russia, that the alliance is standing firm.

I do think, Wolf, that it was notable that there wasn't more of a mention of Ukraine, no more direct mentions of what happened over the past two days at the summit in Vilnius. But the parallels were certainly unmistakable, the president opening this speech talking about the independence of Lithuania and the rest of the Baltic states, throwing off the yoke of the Soviet Union, saying that the U.S. never supported the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states.

He was speaking directly to Lithuanians, saying that they are a proud member of the E.U. and NATO. But, clearly, the audience was broader than that. And you can imagine a lot of Ukrainians here in this country thinking enviously, we would also like to be members of both the European Union and of NATO.

There was one slip in there that I thought was rather interesting. He talked about the 33 freestanding members of NATO. That would -- the Ukrainians would certainly like that to be the case. Currently, as you just said, Wolf, there are 31, soon to be 32, with Sweden.

Ukraine certainly disappointed that, at the end of this Vilnius summit, that there was no more concrete timetable for Ukraine to join the NATO alliance. But they certainly did receive very strong and robust assurances both for the short term and the long term in terms of military support, economic support, support for reforms.

And President Biden here was trying to remind the world that that will certainly continue from the U.S. side -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, that U.S. military support going to new levels right now with these cluster bombs that have now been approved, F-16s. Ukrainian pilots are now training for these U.S. fighter jets, these very sophisticated fighter jets, an enormous amount of weaponry that's still going, flowing in to Ukraine as it begins and launches this counteroffensive against the Russians.

Lots going on right now.

I want to go back to Washington right now. Brianna Keilar and Jim Sciutto are standing by with more news.

Guys, take it away.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: All right, Wolf, thank you so much. We're joined now by "Washington Post" columnist Josh Rogin and CNN

military analyst Colonel -- retired Colonel Cedric Leighton, who is with us as well.

These sort of dual messages, Colonel, one to Russia, you made a bad bet here, and another to Ukraine, which is that the U.S. and Western allies have Ukraine's back, even as we have seen at times Volodymyr Zelenskyy kind of oscillating between some impatience when it comes to no timeline for getting into NATO, and this appreciation, of course, for everything that all of the Western allies have given him.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Brianna, I think it was very interesting to see that.

And I think what President Biden was kind of channeling here was the patience that the United States ended up showing in the Cold War. If you remember, during the Cold War, we spent all the time from 1945 to 1989 basically holding course, even though there were some deviations, obviously, during that period.

But the basic idea was, we are going to do what we need to do to confront the old Soviet Union. That same message is what's going on now from Biden to Putin. And he's saying, OK, at this point in time, we are standing with Ukraine. Ukraine is the epicenter of the conflict between Russia and the rest of the world. And we're going to leverage that conflict in order to protect our interests and to make sure that Russia doesn't go forward and use aggressive tendencies against other countries, particularly against NATO members.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: And the NATO -- the Soviet comparison is not unwarranted, given that Putin is attempting to claw back some of those old pieces of the Soviet Union.

Josh Rogin, the Ukrainian president knew going into this summit that Ukraine was not going to suddenly be entered into the alliance. They knew that going in, although, obviously, they want to get there as quickly as possible.

I wonder, based on the assurances they received, this framework for its eventual, someday joining the alliance, is Ukraine any closer today than it was last week? Do they have any greater security guarantees for that path going forward today than they did last week?

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Jim, I think, from Ukrainians' point of view, the security guarantees are the weapons. When they get more weapons, that's more security.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

ROGIN: When they don't get more weapons, that's less security.

And all of this sort of NATO membership plan, discussion, there's a council, there's a committee, there's a committee about the council, there's a statement that was negotiated behind the scenes, really doesn't really make a difference on the battlefield. Of course, Zelenskyy is going to push for that. But the cluster bombs,

that's security for a lot of Ukrainians. If they get the planes, that will be security. If they get the long-range missiles, that will be security.

[13:25:02]

So I think one of the things that was definitely missing from President Biden's otherwise well-received speech and for Ukrainians would be some sort of idea of whether or not that support is coming and whether or not that support will be sustainable, not just for Europeans, but for Americans, who are becoming more and more weary of the project, the expensive project in Ukraine.

SCIUTTO: Yes, listen, the cluster bombs, the decision is one that the U.S. made over the objections of several of its NATO allies.

KEILAR: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: And appreciation again expressed from Zelenskyy, knowing that there are some political sensitivities of that.

Josh, where do you see broadly where we are and where this speech is marking? Are we here on the precipice or in the middle of another cold war?

ROGIN: Right.

I thought it was very interesting when President Biden said, we stand at an inflection point in history. That is very similar to the words that Chinese President Xi Jinping used when talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin during his last trip to Moscow. There seems to be an agreement that what happens in Ukraine doesn't stay in Ukraine.

And President Biden also said that we have to stop today's aggressors to deter would-be aggressors tomorrow. He didn't name China, but he's talking about China and the very real possibility that China could attack Taiwan.

So this is a global struggle, and NATO is a global alliance, whether or not the French president thinks so. And that's what President Biden is arguing. Now, of course, he doesn't have to make that argument to Lithuanians. They already with that. I think the Americans are the ones that he's trying to convince.

And we have to remember, why did the Soviet Union actually fall? Well, a lot of reasons, but mostly because we outspent them, OK? And why is Lithuania free? Because the Soviet Union fell. So some of those lessons are being taken into account. And I think some of them aren't, frankly.

SCIUTTO: Colonel, I always think, listen to what they say when you're talking about a Xi or a Putin, or a Biden, for that matter. And all of them have this in common today, in that they frame this

conflict as not being just about Ukraine, but being really a global standoff between competing systems, authoritarian and Western liberal democracy, this kind of thing, but also with the potential flash point, not just in Ukraine, as we have seen, but in Taiwan.

Is that the new world we're living in, that this 30-year period some- odd post '89, '91 of post-Cold War era is over, and we are back in a superpower conflict?

LEIGHTON: I think, in some ways, we are, Jim, because that period from '89 until about now was basically an aberration in historical terms.

There's always been some type of conflict, some type of competing blocs of nations, whether you go back hundreds of years or you're looking at very recent history.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

LEIGHTON: So I think the kind of thing that we're seeing here, Jim, is that the blocs are forming. They have basically already formed, Russia and China on one side of the table, the United States and democracies on the other side of the table.

And whether we like it or not, that is really the way this conflict is going to unfold. And Ukraine is just the first battleground, first major battleground of this type.

SCIUTTO: And the sad fact is, if you look at history, and history doesn't always have to be a guide, but when you have those blocs and those entangling alliances, sometimes, there's a momentum towards conflict.

And that's something that they're also talking about. They're talking about ways to avoid that eventuality.

KEILAR: Yes, obviously very important.

Colonel, thank you so much. Josh, thank you so much as well.

And ahead here: Republicans on the Hill, they are ramping up their efforts to undermine the FBI today. How FBI Director Chris Wray responded to accusations that the government is trying to silence or punish conservatives.

And the Dow jumping after a key inflation report reveals consumer prices keep falling. They are now at their lowest point since March of 2021. So will the Fed stop raising rates?

We have that and much more when CNN NEWS CENTRAL returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)