Biden to join meeting of NATO's eastern members by video

U.S. President Joe Biden will join a meeting by video link of presidents of countries on NATO’s eastern flank being held Monday in the Romanian capital

BUCHAREST, Romania -- U.S. President Joe Biden will join a meeting by video link of presidents of countries on NATO's eastern flank being held Monday in the Romanian capital, according to the offices of the Romanian and Polish presidents. The presidents gathering represent the so-called Bucharest Nine, a group of the easternmost members of the Western military alliance. Most of them share a concern about Russia’s attempts to reassert its influence over their region, their anxieties growing after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, the host, said on Twitter that he was glad to be welcoming Biden, and that the meeting was in preparation for a full NATO summit next month. He said Monday's meeting, co-hosted by Polish President Andrzej Duda, would include discussions of defense and deterrence on the alliance's Eastern flank, and that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was also participating.