"It's a matter of time": US explains Biden's words on Ukraine's optional NATO membership

The day before, U.S. President Joe Biden said that peace guarantees for Ukraine do not mean its accession to NATO, and he himself is not ready to "support the NATOization of Ukraine." The US Mission to NATO explained his words.

The U.S. Mission to NATO emphasized that Ukraine's future lies in NATO, as all allies have agreed. Representatives of the mission said this in a comment to Radio Liberty.

At the same time, the U.S. diplomatic mission explained that Joe Biden was talking about Ukraine's unpreparedness to become a member of the Alliance.

"The president made it clear that Ukraine's future is in NATO, which the United States reaffirmed at the summit in Vilnius along with all other allies... The president said that he does not believe that Ukraine is ready for NATO membership now, as he has said many times before," the US diplomatic mission explained Biden's words.

The U.S. Mission to NATO also recalled other words Biden said after the Vilnius Summit. The American president then emphasized that Ukraine's membership was only a matter of time.

"Ukraine's future is in NATO. As the president said earlier, "I believe that Ukraine can get there" and "it's not about whether they should join or not. It's about when they can join. And they will join NATO"... At the NATO summit in Vilnius last year, alliance leaders took steps to recognize the progress Ukraine has made, while emphasizing the need for further democratic reforms to meet NATO standards. This work continues," the diplomatic mission said.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, in an interview with Time, US President Joe Biden said that Ukraine does not have to join NATO to achieve peace. When asked what the end of the war would look like, he said that "peace will look like a guarantee that Russia will never occupy Ukraine." At the same time, the US president noted that this does not mean Ukraine's accession to NATO. Biden also reminded that he was the one who had previously opposed the "NATOization" of Ukraine.

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