Biden talks up NATO ties, says Putin has already ‘lost’ Ukraine war

President Biden said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has “lost” his war in Ukraine, adding that the Kremlin lacks the will and resources to keep up its troubled invasion of its neighbor for long.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Helsinki with Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto at the end of a weeklong trip to Europe, the U.S. president said the Ukraine war won’t continue indefinitely because Russia can’t keep up the fight.

“There is no possibility of him winning the war in Ukraine. He has already lost that war,” Mr. Biden said, when asked if Ukraine not being admitted to NATO could embolden Mr. Putin.

Mr. Biden, wrapping up a diplomacy-heavy trip that included a stop in Britain and a two-day summit of NATO leaders in Vilnius, Ukraine, also gave a strong defense of America’s commitment to the Western alliance, telling a Finnish reporter he would “absolutely guarantee” the U.S. would remain part of the alliance.

The U.S. president, who met with leaders of five Nordic nations in Helsinki, said Russia’s resources were being badly stretched with the war and that Mr. Putin will likely eventually “decide it’s not in the interest for Russia, economically, politically or otherwise.”

“He could end the war tomorrow. He could just say, ’I’m out,’” Mr. Biden said, adding that he believes Ukraine’s current counteroffensive could produce gains that could force the Kremlin to the bargaining table.

White House officials expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the NATO gathering, despite complaints from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the alliance failed to offer his country a firm date for membership in the future. Mr. Biden helped broker a deal with Turkey that will allow Sweden to become the 32nd member of NATO later this year and several NATO countries announced stepped-up military aid packages for Kyiv.

In the face of Russia’s 15-month-old invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Biden said popular backing in the U.S. for NATO is broad, deep and bipartisan. It was a sharp departure in tone from former President Donald Trump, who regularly unnerved European allies with criticisms of their defense spending levels and questioned NATO’s value to American security.

“There’s overwhelming support from the American people, there’s overwhelming support from the members of the Congress, both House and Senate and both parties — notwithstanding the fact that there are some extreme elements of one party — we will stand together,” Mr. Biden said. ” … Nobody can guarantee the future. But this is the best bet that anyone can make.”

On other issues, Mr. Biden expressed concern for the fate of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been held in a Russian prison for more than 100 days on what the newspaper and the White House say are trumped-up espionage charges. The president told the news conference he was open to a prisoner swap as one way to get Mr. Gershkovich home.

And Mr. Biden had harsh words for Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Alabama Republican who has put a parliamentary hurdle in the way of confirming the promotions and reassignments of more than 250 senior U.S. military officers to protest the Pentagon’s new policy offering liberal accommodations to female service members seeking an abortion.

“I’d be willing to talk to him if I thought there was any possibility he would change his ridiculous position on this,” Mr. Biden said, adding that leaders of the senator’s own Republican Party should be pressuring him to drop his “irresponsible” hold on confirmation votes.

CNN reported later that Mr. Tuberville and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken by phone Thursday to discuss the impasse. Mr. Tuberville told the cable network after Mr. Biden’s comments that the president “doesn’t sound like anybody that wants to sit down and visit and work the problem out. It sounds like somebody who wants to argue, and I’m not in this to argue.”

• David R. Sands contributed to this story, which is based in part on wire service reports.