Joe Biden, Olaf Scholz hint at long road to Ukraine membership

Loading

Mr. Biden said he had had lengthy discussions with the Ukrainian president on the issue, and promised that the United States would continue to provide security and arms to Ukraine as it did to Israel while the process progressed.

“I think we need to find a reasonable path for Ukraine to become eligible to join NATO,” he said.

He said Ukraine will join the alliance in the long term, adding: “NATO is an open door policy and we are not going to shut anyone out.”

In a statement to Germany’s parliament last month, Scholz said NATO members “should take a sober look at the situation” and urged allies to focus on building up Ukraine’s combat capabilities.

Negotiations over how to characterize Ukraine’s application for membership have become increasingly thorny, with cracks over the limits of aid to Kiev and US and German concerns that NATO could be embroiled in war. likely to be exposed.

President Zelensky has been invited to the summit, but has threatened not to attend unless NATO shows concrete progress since its 2008 statement that Ukraine “will become” a member.

“Finding the right wording and inviting Ukraine is all a matter of political will,” he told the US-based ABC on Sunday.

Those seeking a clear path to Kiev’s accession, including Estonia and Poland, without this means NATO is ignoring Ukraine’s pleas for post-war protection under the alliance’s Article 5 Mutual Defense Clause, It claims it will help achieve one of Putin’s stated goals. Invasion: To prevent a country from joining an alliance.

Opponents, however, disagree with NATO on what appears to imply that Ukraine is on the inevitable path to membership without first meeting strict criteria for governance, military standards and weapons. , argues that the Alliance cannot promise anything without knowing how the war will end. when.

“It’s very important to keep NATO united,” Biden said. “At this moment in the middle of the war, I do not think there is unanimous consensus within NATO on whether or not to add Ukraine to NATO.”

U.S. leaders’ reluctance comes after former Prime Minister Paul Keating accused NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg of being a “supreme fool” in seeking to deepen an alliance with Asia. .

Receive notes directly from foreigners correspondent about what is going on around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter here.