Biden’s meeting with the Bucharest Nine focused on affirming support for NATO allies | ABCNL

And the former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, Mick Mulroy joins me now with more. Mick Biden's meeting with the Booker S9 today sought to affirm U.S. support, not just for Ukraine, but for NATO allies too. What's the ultimate goal of this trip and do you think Biden achieved it? So, Diane, I do think from listening to all his comments that he said today that he has achieved the goal of reaffirming, as you said, the U.S. commitment to NATO.

We have under Article 5 had an absolute commitment to defend every inch of NATO. And for those countries that are there today or who are on the border of Russia, that means a lot. I'm sure he also talked about the continuing support to Ukraine and why it's not just the right thing to do for Ukraine, but it's also the right thing to do to ensure that Russia doesn't continue on to another country if they're successful in Ukraine, which is a very, which is a possibility. And then lastly, I think there was probably a discussion on what's the next step for NATO support to Ukraine and will that include items like fighter aircraft like the F-16 and long-range fires like the attack arms and the NATO equivalent to those two things. Meanwhile, Putin ordered the suspension of a nuclear arms pact with the U.S. So how worried should we be about that? So it appears that Putin goes to this nuclear threat every time he feels that he's failing in Ukraine, which has been a lot.

And now I would say it's more symbolic. They have ceased inspection since COVID, so that's not happening. President Putin said that he would not go past the cap of deployable strategic nuclear weapons, which is at 1,550 per country. He said he would not exceed that. So it's mostly symbolic if he does go past that, then it would be very concerning. And the agreement itself is set to expire in three years. So this does indicate that he's not interested in renewing it.

But if everybody sticks to the parts of the agreement that matter, which is the cap in deploying these weapons, then I don't think we should be too concerned. Meanwhile, China's top diplomat held meetings with Kremlin officials today, including meeting with Putin himself. How much of a threat is it to Ukraine and its allies if China supports Russia on the battlefield? So, Diane, that is a significant threat. Russia has had a hard time keeping up with its ammunition requirements in Ukraine, and China can solve that issue. If they start providing weapons and munitions, then Russia will essentially have a river of logistics going into Ukraine, something that Ukrainians have had because of the U.S. support.

So it would be a significant positive for Russia, negative for Ukraine, and all of its supporters. We need to do everything we can diplomatically to get China to reconsider if they're actually considering doing that. Alright, Mick Mulroy, thank you, and ABC News Live will be airing a new special titled Standing Strong, One Year of War in Ukraine, tomorrow evening at 8.30 p.m. Eastern, streaming right here on ABC News Live or Hulu.

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