U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Thursday that Ukraine will eventually be allowed to join NATO.
“Ukraine will become a member of NATO. Our purpose at the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership,” Blinken told reporters while attending talks between the defense alliance’s foreign ministers in Brussels.
The comments come amid February’s statement by the organization’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, who affirmed his desire to add the embattled nation to the membership roster.
It remains to be seen when the acceptance will happen, as Article 5 of the treaty contains a collective defense clause that would place all 32 member states at war with Russia if Kiev would be admitted at present.
Last summer, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, addressed this issue when he told CNN that Ukrainian membership “in the immediate future isn’t likely because that would put NATO at war with Russia.”
President Biden has expressed similar concerns regarding the proposal.
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