WASHINGTON, October 1 – Novosti. Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to apply for an accelerated entry of Ukraine into NATO came as a surprise to the administration of US President Joe Biden, Politico reports , citing sources.
“Ukraine’s announcement of a desire to accelerate NATO membership came as a surprise to the Biden administration,” the publication says.
According to the interlocutors of the publication, a controversial attitude towards Ukraine’s membership in the North Atlantic Alliance remains in Washington , including because of the need for the participation of the US military in the defense of any NATO member that has been attacked.
“Ukraine sought these security guarantees while many in the United States remained worried about the prospect of a war with Russia,” the publication points out.
Earlier on Friday, Zelensky said that Kiev , in response to the accession to Russia of the DPR , LPR , as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, applied for accelerated admission to NATO.
It is noted that a number of supporters of former US President Donald Trump have previously tried to convince Ukraine to abandon plans to join NATO, indicating that this would help ease the growing tensions with Russia.
Zelensky’s decision was also ambiguously perceived by a number of American politicians and representatives of the White House.
In addition to Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security Jake Sullivan , who said that the admission of Ukraine to NATO is now untimely, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress Nancy Pelosi avoided answering Politico’s question about supporting Kiev’s entry into the alliance .
Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to strongly endorse this, but did voice support for “security guarantees” for Kyiv.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg , commenting on Zelensky’s statement, recognized the bloc’s unchanged position on the right of each country to determine its own path and on the “open door” policy, but stressed that NATO would concentrate its efforts on helping Kiev defend itself.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in December 2014 amended two laws, abandoning the non-bloc status of the state. In February 2019, the Ukrainian parliament adopted amendments to the constitution, securing the country’s course towards the EU and NATO. Ukraine has become the sixth state to receive NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner status.
Representatives of official Washington have repeatedly stated that at this stage the possibility of Ukraine’s entry into NATO is not being considered. At the same time, the United States emphasized that the alliance would never abandon the “open door” policy, and did not rule out that Kiev could try to join the organization in the future.
