US President Joe Biden skipped NATO dinner meet due to ‘hectic workload’: Report

US President Joe Biden had to skip Tuesday’s NATO dinner with other world leaders because of ongoing workload issues, the White House said.

According to FoxNews, Biden had RSVP'd “no” to NATO summit dinner with others, making it the third time for him to skip dinner with world leaders during an international trip.

The White House said the US president has four full days of work ahead of him, and he will also be delivering a speech, hence he could not attend the dinner.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Meanwhile, Biden will be meeting Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky after the conclusion of the NATO-Ukraine council meeting.

The bilateral meeting will take place at 3.45 pm (local time) in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.

This comes days after Biden said that Ukraine cannot join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in the current timeframe and its bid is contingent upon ending the war with Russia.

Biden against Ukraine joining NATO

Speaking to CNN ahead of his NATO trip, Biden had said that it was “premature" to allow Ukraine to join the alliance in the middle of a war and that the process could take place only after a peace agreement with Russia was in place.

Biden added that the US and its NATO allies would continue to back President Volodymyr Zelensky by providing the necessary military aid that is needed to end the war.

“I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war," Biden said.

“For example, if you did that, then, you know – and I mean what I say – we’re determined to commit every inch of territory that is NATO territory. It’s a commitment that we’ve all made no matter what. If the war is going on, then we’re all in war. We’re at war with Russia, if that were the case,"the US president added.

Biden’s concerns stem from the fact that Ukraine joining NATO would bring all the member alliance closer to the war with Russia due to a clause in its charter.

Article 5 of NATO's charter states that if one member is attacked, it is deemed to be an assault on all and hence all others must come to its defence.

Understands concerns raised on NATO bid:Zelensky

During a press conference at the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, Zelensky addressed the concerns raised by some people over Kyiv joining NATO, saying that "nobody is willing to have a world war".

He agreed that Ukraine cannot be a member of the alliance while a war is going on within its border. But, he adds, "signals are important".

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE