Biden: I look forward to Ukraine's entry into NATO.

During a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vilnius summit on July 12, U.S. President Joe Biden said[1] that he looks forward to Ukraine's entry into the alliance. "I look forward to... having the meeting, celebrating your official, official membership in NATO," Biden said.

The two leaders met for bilateral talks during the NATO summit where Ukraine's partners pledged to ramp up their support and provided new security commitments. Kyiv has not received its much-desired NATO membership invite, however. Biden said he understands his counterpart's frustration but assured him of continued U.S. support.

"I hope you all got a sense today from all my colleagues how much public support you have. It's real and I hope we finally have put to bed the notion about whether or not Ukraine is welcome in NATO. It's going to happen," Biden said at the meeting.

"We're all moving in the right direction. I think it's just a matter of getting by the next few months," he added. At the summit, NATO adopted a three-part package to bring Ukraine closer to the Alliance, and dropped the need for the Membership Action Plan (MAP), but stopped short of a full invitation.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine will be able to join once "allies agree, and conditions are met." Before arriving at the summit, Zelensky openly criticized[2] NATO's unclear signaling on Ukraine's bid, calling the lack of a time frame "unprecedented and absurd."

Ukraine war latest: Stoltenberg says Ukraine receives 'clear path' to NATO, provides no time frame Key developments on July 11: * Ukraine receives 'clear path' toward NATO membership, says Stoltenberg * Dozen of countries formally join F-16 training coalition for Ukraine * France to deliver SCALP long-range missile to Ukraine * Russian top general reportedly killed in Ukraine NATO adopted a...

News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent.

He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press.

He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer.

Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

References

1. ^ said (www.c-span.org)
2. ^ criticized (kyivindependent.com)
3. ^ Ukraine war latest: Stoltenberg says Ukraine receives 'clear path' to NATO, provides no time frameKey developments on July 11: * Ukraine receives 'clear path' toward NATO membership, says Stoltenberg * Dozen of countries formally join F-16 training coalition for Ukraine * France to deliver SCALP long-range missile to Ukraine * Russian top general reportedly killed in Ukraine NATO adopted a... (kyivindependent.com)