President Joe Biden mocked the insightfulness of reporters’ questions at the end of the annual NATO summit.
On Wednesday, a reporter asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “How soon after the war would you like to be in NATO?”
Before Zelenskyy could respond, Biden — who met with the Ukrainian leader in Vilnius, Lithuania — interjected sarcastically, “An hour and 20 minutes.”
“You guys ask really insightful questions!” he quipped.
Watch the video below:
REPORTER to ZELENSKY: "How soon after the war would you like to be in NATO?"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 12, 2023
BIDEN INTERJECTS SARCASTICALLY: "An hour and 20 minutes! You guys ask really insightful questions!" pic.twitter.com/U2wwwR4HfK
The question comes after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Tuesday Ukraine would be invited to join the military alliance “when the Allies agree and conditions are met.”
However, he did not provide a timeline for when such an offer would be made.
Zelenskyy has sought to join NATO since before Russia launched its invasion of his country in 2022.
However, any entry into the alliance will likely be delayed until the war is over.
The New York Times’ Steven Erlanger explained, “NATO’s collective defense promise, the famous Article V, would mean that every NATO member is obligated to fight for Ukraine.”
“And nobody wants to do that,” he added.
In a tweet responding to the lack of a timeline for an invitation to join NATO, Zelenskyy wrote, “It’s unprecedented and absurd when [a] time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership. While at the same time vague wording about ‘conditions’ is added even for inviting Ukraine.”
