War Ukraine, Biden slows down on Ukraine in NATO
US President Joe Biden has assured that Ukraine will not have a facilitated NATO accession process. “They have to meet the same standards, so we’re not going to make it easy‘ he said. The US president’s statements come before NATO leaders meet in Lithuania next month. In a symbolic step, alliance leaders intend to hold a first session of the NATO-Ukraine Council with President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.The meeting will give Kiev a fairer place at the table “to consult and decide on security issues,” Stoltenberg said yesterday.
But Stoltenberg added that even if NATO strengthens political ties with Ukraine during the summit, there will be no talk of membership for Kiev. “At the Vilnius summit we will not discuss an invitation, but how to bring Ukraine closer to NATO,” Stoltenberg said. “I am confident that we will find a good solution and a consensus.”
Eastern European NATO countries have been pushing for an improved accession roadmap for Ukraine, but key allies like the United States and Germany have proven reluctant to go much beyond a vague 2014 promise, according to which Kiev will one day unite.
NATO countries have already supplied Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars worth of armaments since Moscow launched its all-out invasion last February. However, some NATO leaders fear that extending Ukraine’s membership would increase the possibility of the alliance directly engaging Russia in a war.
Biden was also asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims that Moscow has deployed nuclear weapons inside its close ally and neighboring Belarus. “I’ve commented on this statement many times. It’s totally irresponsible,” Biden told reporters at a military base near Washington on his way to speak in Philadelphia.
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