White House denies talk about Ukraine's membership of NATO in exchange for territory
The US President’s Administration has denied the information that there are discussions about NATO membership possibly being granted to Ukraine if it gives up part of its territories in Russia's favour.
Source: John Kirby, the US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, during a briefing
Details: "There’s nothing to that. That’s not accurate," Kirby said responding to a journalist's question about discussions about the exchange of Ukrainian territories for NATO membership.
Kirby emphasised that the US authorities’ position is that in the future, Ukraine will be able to become a NATO member, and the leadership of the Alliance member countries confirmed this during the last summit in Vilnius.
"At the Vilnius Summit, the Alliance stood behind that idea and got behind a notion wherein a pathway can be developed for that eventual membership [of Ukraine to join NATO – ed.]. But the focus right now has got to be on helping Ukraine beat back Russian aggression and continue to claw back territory that rightfully belongs to them. They are making progress every day. And we’re going to continue to support them."
Background:
- Stian Jenssen, Head of the NATO Secretary-General's Office, has suggested that Ukraine could potentially join the Alliance in exchange for its territory. However, he emphasised that such a decision should be made by Kyiv alone.
- Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called such discussions "absolutely unacceptable", stressing that this is a narrative that plays into the hands of the Russians.
- Stian Jenssen later referred to his proposals to discuss Ukraine's membership of the North Atlantic Alliance in exchange for territorial concessions to Russia as a "mistake".
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