MADRID -- President Joe Biden opened his three-day visit to a NATO summit Tuesday by pledging to beef up the American military presence in Europe as he denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin for trying to "wipe out" Ukrainian culture in the ongoing war in eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, Turkey agreed Tuesday to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, ending an impasse that clouded the summit amid Europe's worst security crisis in decades, triggered by the war.
After urgent top-level talks with leaders of the three countries, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said "we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO." He called it "a historic decision."
Biden arrived in Spain for the summit amid an intense barrage of Russian fire across Ukraine and growing weariness over the war that is battering the global economy.
In talks with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the U.S. president detailed plans to increase the number of Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, from four to six. Biden said the move was one of multiple announcements that he and NATO allies would make during the summit to help bolster the alliance in the region.
"Sometimes I think Putin's objective is just to literally change the entire culture -- wipe out the culture of Ukraine [with] the kinds of actions he's taking," Biden said after meeting with Sanchez.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the destroyers' move "will help increase the United States' and NATO's maritime presence." He said Biden would announce additional moves today.
"The president said before the war started that if Putin invaded Ukraine, the United States and NATO would enhance the force posture on the eastern flank, not just for the duration of the crisis, but to address the long-term change in the strategic reality that that would present," Sullivan added.
Biden is looking to use this week's NATO summit to shore up allies amid signs of fractures in the western alliance. After several sanctions on the Russian economy and funneling billions of dollars of weaponry into Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, NATO partners are showing signs of strain as the cost of energy and other essential goods has skyrocketed.
As the U.S. president departed for the NATO meeting from the German Alps, French President Emmanuel Macron said the prices are putting European economies in an "untenable" situation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has openly worried that the West has become fatigued by the cost of the war.
The U.S. has been building up its presence since shortly before the invasion in late February, adding about 20,000 troops to the 80,000 who were previously in Europe.
The U.S. and Spain, in a joint statement after the Biden-Sanchez meeting, said the invasion "fundamentally altered the global strategic environment" and the "aggression constitutes the most direct threat to [trans-Atlantic] security and global stability since the end of the Cold War."
Sullivan suggested that other moves Biden is set to announce will involve positioning additional forces on NATO's eastern flank "in a steady state." He declined to say if some U.S. forces that serve there on a rotational basis would become permanent.
Biden praised Spain for taking in tens of thousands of Ukrainian migrants who have fled the war.
"Our people have stood together," he said during a meeting with Spain's King Felipe VI. "They've stood up and they've stood strong."
Biden attended a dinner Tuesday with other NATO leaders at the 18th-century Royal Palace of Madrid, hosted by Spain's king and queen.
The president is set to meet today with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Biden will also look to highlight progress made by NATO members at meeting the alliance's goal of spending 2% of gross domestic product on their defense budgets.
Sullivan said a majority of members would report that they have met the benchmark or are on track to be by 2024. He described it as a "substantial shift in the intensity and commitment of NATO allies in terms of putting their money where their mouth is."
Biden will also hold a rare joint meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to discuss North Korea's nuclear program.
U.S. and South Korean officials say North Korea has all but finished preparations for its first nuclear test since September 2017.
Analysts say North Korea may use its next nuclear test to claim that it has acquired the ability to build small nuclear warheads that can be placed on short-range missiles or other new weapons systems it has demonstrated in recent months.
JOINT AGREEMENT
After weeks of diplomacy and hours of talks Tuesday, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said he, Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson signed a joint agreement to break the previous effort to block Finland and Sweden's invitation to join NATO.
Stoltenberg said leaders of the 30-nation alliance will issue a formal invitation to the two countries to join today. The decision has to be ratified by all individual nations, but he said he was "absolutely confident" Finland and Sweden would become members within months.
Among its many shattering consequences, the Ukraine invasion has prompted Sweden and Finland to abandon their long-held nonaligned status and apply to join NATO as protection against an increasingly aggressive and unpredictable Russia -- which shares a long border with Finland. Under NATO treaties, an attack on any member would be considered an attack against all and trigger a military response by the entire alliance.
NATO operates by consensus, and Erdogan had threatened to block the Nordic pair, insisting they change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists.
Turkey said it had "got what it wanted" including "full cooperation ... in the fight against" the rebel groups.
Andersson said the agreement was "good for Finland and Sweden. And it's good for NATO."
She said completing the process of membership should be done "the sooner the better."
"But there are 30 parliaments that need to approve this and you never know," Andersson told the Associated Press.
Turkey hailed Tuesday's agreement as a triumph, saying the Nordic nations had agreed to crack down on groups that Ankara deems national security threats, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party and its Syrian extension. It said they also agreed "not to impose embargo restrictions in the field of defense industry" on Turkey and to take "concrete steps on the extradition of terrorist criminals."
Turkey has demanded that Finland and Sweden extradite wanted individuals and lift arms restrictions imposed after Turkey's 2019 military incursion into northeast Syria. Turkey, in turn, agreed "to support at the 2022 Madrid Summit the invitation of Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO."
Details of exactly what was agreed were unclear. Andersson dismissed suggestions Sweden and Finland had conceded too much.
Asked if the Swedish public will see the agreement as a concession on issues like extraditions of Kurdish militants regarded by Ankara as terrorists, Andersson said "they will see that this is good for the security of Sweden."
Biden congratulated the three nations on taking a "crucial step."
Sullivan said the U.S. did not have a role to play in negotiations between Turkey and the Nordic nations, which were being brokered by Stoltenberg.
A senior administration official said Tuesday that the U.S. offered no concessions to Turkey to coax it to accept a deal and drop its opposition to membership for Finland and Sweden.
The official said Biden told Erdogan when they spoke earlier Tuesday that closing the deal with the Nordic countries that night would set up a good opportunity for their own talks today. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss administration strategy.
Information for this article was contributed by Zeke Miller, Aamer Madhani, Jill Lawless, Joseph Wilson, Aritz Parra, Ciaran Giles, Sylvie Corbet, Zeke Miller, Karl Ritter and Zeynep Bilginsoy of The Associated Press.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez listens as President Joe Biden speaks at the Palace of Moncloa in Madrid, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. Biden will also be attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Madrid. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden and Spain's King Felipe VI meet at the Royal Palace of Madrid in Madrid, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
U.S. President Joe Biden walks down the steps of Airforce One on arrival at the Torreon air base in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday June 28, 2022. North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state will meet for a NATO summit in Madrid from Tuesday through Thursday. (J.J.Guillen/Pool photo via AP)
President Joe Biden and Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez shake hands as they meet at the Palace of Moncloa in Madrid, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, to discuss continuing efforts to support Ukraine. Biden will also be attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Madrid. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)