today on inside politics, we re not going anywhere. you re struck with us. those promises to ukraine came directly from the president of the united states today. that as the west outlines that country s path toward nato membership. but exactly when ukraine can walk down that road remains a life or death decision. i m dana bash in washington. and i m wolf blitzer reporting live from lithuania, where this hour we expect to hear directly from the president of the united states joe biden. his speech will follow a rather contentious few days. ukraine has publicly questioned why its allies are waiting to formally admit the countries into nato. ukraine s president volodymyr zelenskyy struck very different tones. he says he s grateful for the great unity and for long lasting american security garn tees, but he also used stark terms to describe the costs of nato s decision to keep ukraine at arm s length. we are over at the university where the president is getting ready to speak
standing as one to defend freedom. 14 heroes tragically lost their lives. hundreds were wounded. the whole world saw that decades of oppression had done nothing to dim the flame of liberty in this country. i mean it. it is consequential. the light of lithuania. you kept it strong, you kept it bright, and you kept the light shining. here in vilnius and in washington, d.c. where the yellow, green and red of your flag flew every day, this past year, you celebrated 100 years of unbroken diplomatic relationship between the united states and the baltic states. america, america never recognized the soviet occupation of baltic. never, never, never.
lithuania. he has a very carefully drafted speech. holy mackerel. it is good to be back in a region that knows better than anyone the transformational power of freedom. it cannot be denied. together with your brothers and sisters in estonia and latvia, you helped end division through the power of connection. not the berlin wall. later when the soviet tanks sought to deny your independence, the people of vilnius said no. no, no, no. in january of 1991, tens of thousands of citizens, unarmed andunyielding, came for their own, of their own accord.
besides, you have a great president. stand up. the bond has never faltered. and just seven months after the bloody january crackdown of the first foreign visitor to have their passport stamped here in lithuania with visas to this new reborn state were a plane load of lithuanian americans from chicago, illinois. and their families are still proud of that. los angeles came after that. a lot came after. look. many aboard that plane fled lithuania during the early years of soviet oppression and
marvelled at the return of this independent state. one of them told reporters, this day is like a resurrection for us. this day is a resurrection for us. that s what the quote was. that s the feeling. and it was. a resurrection that quickly became a revelation, and a nation which stands today as a stronghold of liberty and opportunity. a proud member of the european union and of nato. i have the great honor as united states senator of championing lithuania and other states to join nato in 2004. wasn t i brilliant doing that? all kidding aside, think about how it has changed things. think about what has happened. over the last few days as president of the united states, i had the honor of participating in an historic nato summit hosted by lithuania where we