President Joe Biden says the United States is at an "inflection point" ahead of his appearance at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, this week.
Biden said in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria that aired on Sunday that he believes the U.S. is on the "cusp" of making "positive changes in the world," and he wants to continue to lead the country through its relations with China, Israel, and Ukraine.
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"Do you see what we've done in Europe? Europe's more united than it's ever been since World War II ... You see what we've been able to do in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea," Biden said. "I think we're putting the world together in a way that is going to make things significantly more secure for people. We're uniting democracies in a way that hadn't happened ever."
Biden continued, "I think we have enormous opportunities, and I think I just want to finish the job. And I think we can do that in the next six years."
The president is running for reelection in 2024, facing an onslaught of Republican candidates vying for the chance to secure the White House for the GOP — including former President Donald Trump, who Biden beat in 2020.
Biden has touted his economic success through his "Bidenomics" agenda and boasted of strengthening relations with foreign nations. He will travel to the NATO Summit, which will take place from July 11 to July 12.
Sweden is currently blocked from joining NATO thanks to Turkey, but Biden said he was "optimistic" that Sweden will be invited to join soon.
"Sweden has the same value set that we have in NATO, is a small nation but has the capacity to defend itself. They know how to fight," Biden said, adding that he believes Sweden can add to NATO's military capacity.
EXCLUSIVE: Biden says Ukraine is not yet ready for NATO membership, saying the war with Russia must end before the alliance can consider adding Kyiv to its ranks. https://t.co/iNx84Zc7r4 pic.twitter.com/z0Ejf6SZlU
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Biden also said he does not believe Ukraine is ready for NATO membership, a point of contention between the U.S. and Russia. Ukraine and Russia have been at war for nearly 500 days.
The president said holding NATO together is "really critical," and inviting Ukraine into membership during the middle of a war would draw all of NATO into the Ukraine-Russia conflict, per NATO regulations. However, he did say that he would not shut out Ukraine from joining NATO.
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"I met with Putin two years ago in Geneva, and he said, 'I want commitments on no Ukraine in NATO,' and I said, 'We're not going to do that,' because it's an open door policy," Biden said. "We're not going to shut anybody out. NATO is a process that takes some time to meet all the qualifications, from democratization to a whole range of other issues."
"One of the things I've indicated is the United States would be ready to provide while the process was going on ... if there is an agreement, if there is a ceasefire, if there is a peace agreement. And so I think we can work it out, but I think it's premature to call for a vote now," the president added.