Speaking to a group of US chief executives this week, Joe Biden hinted at the main message he will deliver to western leaders at Nato headquarters on Thursday at the start of a three-day visit to Europe.
“Now is a time when things are shifting,” Biden said. “There’s going to be a new world order out there, and we’ve got to lead it. And we’ve got to unite the rest of the free world in doing it,” he added.
The president’s words reflected the fact that, after he helped to corral a cohesive response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last month, he is now having to adapt to a more protracted and possibly more dangerous phase of the conflict, in which maintaining that unity could be even more difficult.