Things got awkward, as always, when President Joe Biden was tasked with answering questions during a press conference. That came when President Biden and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine gave a joint press conference in Fasano, Italy, as part of the G7 Summit, a large part of which seemed to revolve around the Russo-Ukraine War.
During that press conference, an American reporter, Joe Wingrove of Bloomberg, asked a basic question about the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza and what the general stance of the G7 leaders is on any sort of deal between Israel and Hamas to stop the continued suffering in and destruction of Gaza, such as a peace agreement.
Beginning, Wingrove asked, “Thank you, Mr. President. I have a question for Mr. — or President Zelenskyy shortly on the announcements. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you about your discussions on the situation in Gaza here at the summit. You were asked just a short time ago about it, after the skydiving demonstration.”
Continuing, he asked what Biden’s assessment is and what the G7 leaders think, asking, “Can you give us your assessment of Hamas’s response? And do you believe that they are trying to work towards a deal, or is this response working against a deal? And what is your message to allies, including those here at the G7, about what more, if anything, the U.S. can do to drive towards a peace agreement? Thank you.”
President Biden, instead of just giving a straight answer, snapped at Wingrove for not playing “by the rules” and asking about Ukraine. He said, “I wish you guys would, a little, play by the — by the rules a little bit. I’m here to talk about a critical situation in Ukraine. You’re asking me another subje- — I’ll be happy to answer it in detail later.”
Then, giving what was mostly a non-answer, he said, “But the bottom line is that we’ve made an agreeme- — I’ve laid out an — an approach that has been endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, by the G7, by the Israelis, and the — the biggest hang-up so far is Hamas refusing to sign on even though they have submitted something similar. Whether it ha- — now to — comes to fruition remains to be seen. We’re going to continue to push. I don’t have a final answer for you.”
Watch that here:
Biden, during that press conference, also announced an “agreement” between the US and Ukraine, saying, “President Zelenskyy and I have just now signed that agreement between the United States and Ukraine. Our goal is to strengthen Ukraine’s credible defense and deterrence capabilities for the long term. A lasting peace for Ukraine must be underwritten by Ukraine’s own ability to defend itself now and to deter future aggression anytime in the — in the future.”
He continued, “The United States is going to help ensure that Ukraine can do both, not by sending American troops to fight in Ukraine but by providing weapons and ammunition; expanding intelligence-sharing; continuing to train brave Ukrainian troops at bases in Europe and the United States; enhancing interoperability between our militaries in line with NATO standards; investing in Ukraine’s defense industrial base so in time — in time they can supply their own weapons and munitions; working with Ukraine’s partners to build a future force that is strong, sustainable, and resilient; and supporting Ukraine’s economic recovery as well as its energy recovery after Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy grid with massive attacks in a futile attempt to break the will of the Ukrainian people. All these lines of efforts and others are laid out in this agreement.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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