“The position remains unchanged”: the US Ambassador commented on Biden’s statement about “peace in Ukraine without NATO membership”

“The position remains unchanged”: the US Ambassador commented on Biden’s statement about “peace in Ukraine without NATO membership” Sofia Rozhik

Julian Smith explained Biden's words about “peace in Ukraine without NATO membership”/Collage 24 Channel

Recently, US President Joe Biden said that the main thing for peace in Ukraine is that Russia never again has the opportunity to occupy Ukraine, and for this, in his opinion, NATO membership is not necessary. This position of Biden was commented on by the US Permanent Representative to NATO Julian Smith.

According to her, the point was that Ukraine still needs to do some work to meet NATO criteria. Smith said this at a briefing on Wednesday, June 12.

“The goal remains the same”

The US Permanent Representative to NATO noted that Biden's position on admitting Ukraine to NATO was quite clear.

“He admits, like all NATO members , that the Alliance committed to admit Ukraine to the Alliance in 2018, when Alliance members declared that Ukraine would become a member of the Alliance. This was once again confirmed at the Vilnius summit last year, when Alliance members declared that Ukraine's future is in NATO… So, changes. didn’t happen either in NATO or in the US,” she said.

And she explained the words of US President Julian Smith by saying that Ukraine “needs to do some work to meet the criteria and implement reforms” that are necessary for membership in the Alliance.

Ukrainians have made significant strides in implementing a range of reforms related to things like transparency and accountability, and the fight against corruption. “We welcome these efforts,” she noted.

Smith also added that NATO allies are working closely with Ukraine to achieve further progress. This means, according to her, the goal and obligations remain unchanged.

How Ukraine reacted to Biden’s words

• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba did not agree with Biden’s statement about NATO and Ukraine. He said that Ukraine's membership in NATO is a “historical given.” According to him, Ukraine will join the Alliance, because in the modern world it is simply impossible to imagine the security of the Euro-Atlantic community without Ukraine and the Ukrainian army.
• The Foreign Minister said that our country is now is preparing as much as possible for this historical moment. He believes that when this moment comes, Ukraine’s entry into the Alliance should take weeks, and in no case months or years.
• Political strategist Mikhail also spoke about Biden’s statement Sheitelman. He believes Biden's opinion was completely different last year. At the same time, the political strategist noted that Biden’s recent statements now will not be able to influence reality in any way, especially since during the war the issue of Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance is not considered at all, and Biden spoke on this topic only in the context of the upcoming elections.