WASHINGTON, Feb  25, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - President Joe Biden joined an

emergency NATO summit Friday to strengthen the frantic Western response to
Russia's invasion of Ukraine and fears for the security of Europe.
       The US president, who has spent weeks trying to lead a united
trans-Atlantic response to Russia's aggression against its neighbor, was
meeting "with fellow NATO heads of state and government in an extraordinary
virtual summit to discuss the security situation in and around Ukraine," the
White House said.
       The meeting, with Biden joining from the White House Situation Room, was
not open to the media.
       It came as Russian troops entered parts of the capital Kyiv after
assaulting Ukraine from multiple directions and Russian President Vladimir
Putin called for the ouster of the country's government.
       Caught between wanting to resist Russia's blatant overturning of post-World
War II European security norms and unwillingness to risk confrontation between
the nuclear armed powers, NATO is walking a fine line in the face of what looks
like a resurgence of the Cold War.
       Ukraine is not part of NATO, but four neighboring countries are and the
United States has rushed troops to the eastern flank to reassure allies jittery
about Putin's broader intentions.
       NATO also finds itself enmeshed in the conflict because it was Ukraine's
longterm ambition of joining the alliance and the European Union -- in hopes of
fully breaking free from Russian domination -- that in part prompted the
Kremlin's decision to attack.
       Biden has repeatedly said that Ukraine is nowhere near being able to join
NATO and is also firm that US troops will not go there to help push back Russia.
       Despite that, the United States and other members of the preeminent Western
alliance have been heavily involved in trying to beef up Ukraine's beleaguered
military with weapons shipments, while border countries like Poland are bracing
for huge flows of Ukrainian refugees.
       Addressing Americans in a White House speech Thursday, Biden was firm about
the US commitment to defending Europe.
       "As I made crystal clear, the United States will defend every inch of NATO
territory with a full force of American power," Biden said.
       The president added, however: "Our forces will not be engaged in a conflict
with Russia in Ukraine."
       On Friday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of NATO member Turkey, accused
the alliance and the European Union of failing to take a "determined stance" on
Ukraine.
       "NATO should have taken a more decisive step," he said, expressing hope
that Friday's summit would not be simply a session of "advice and
condemnation," but lead to a "more determined approach."
       With fears that Putin might have designs beyond Ukraine -- for example
testing NATO's readiness to risk conflict over vulnerable Baltic states -- the
most likely next steps are for even more alliance troops to be sent to the east.
       A diplomat told AFP that "extra defensive land and air forces are going to
be deployed to the alliance's eastern flank, and there will be added naval
measures."