The Ukrainian army is “making progress” in its counteroffensive, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday during a meeting with US President Joe Biden, AFP reports.

“The more territory the Ukrainians can liberate, the better their position will be at the negotiating table,” said the head of the defense alliance, sitting in the Oval Office with the US president, the main architect of Western support for Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the United States announced an additional $325 million in military aid specifically aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses.

The United States is Ukraine’s largest donor country, having supplied or promised to supply more than $39.7 billion worth of various weapons to Kyiv since the February 24, 2022, Russian invasion.

Joe Biden referred to the upcoming annual NATO summit in Vilnius (Lithuania), which will be held in July.

“We strengthened NATO’s eastern flank and made it clear that we will defend every inch of territory” of the alliance member countries, the US president said, assuring that at the summit “we will continue on this path.”

In theory, this annual meeting will be the last for Jens Stoltenberg, whose mandate has been extended several times and ends this fall.

“I am absolutely convinced that (the 31 member states) will find a great successor,” the Norwegian told CNN on Tuesday, assuring that “his priority at the moment (is) to lead the alliance until the end (of his term). “

There is much speculation as to who will succeed Jens Stoltenberg: whether Stoltenberg’s term will be extended, whether the first woman will be appointed to the post, such as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, or British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, it will be quite another choice.

Joe Biden recently said of the latter that he was “very qualified” but that “consensus” would need to be found in NATO, an organization that is sometimes fraught with tension, as evidenced by Sweden’s complicated accession process.

For thirteen months, Ankara has blocked Sweden’s entry into the Atlantic alliance, accusing it of condescension to the Kurdish fighters it hosts on its territory.

Jens Stoltenberg assured his audience that he was “very confident” despite everything that was happening and emphasized Sweden’s efforts to reach an agreement with Turkey.

On Monday, Stockholm announced the extradition to Turkey of a supporter of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) convicted in his country of drug trafficking, thus fulfilling a de facto condition put forward by Ankara for joining NATO.