Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reiterated the United States’ commitment to Ukraine’s eventual membership in NATO. However, he stopped short of making any firm commitments ahead of the alliance’s upcoming annual summit in Washington in July.
“Ukraine will join NATO. “Our goal at the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership,” Blinken told reporters Thursday in Brussels.
NATO countries decided in the 2023 summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, that Ukraine can join NATO if certain conditions are met, but this provoked criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Baltic allies for failing to establish precise targets and a timescale for Kyiv’s membership.
At NATO’s Washington summit commemorating the alliance’s 75th anniversary, Ukraine’s allies are developing strategies to demonstrate strong international support for Kyiv.
The deliverables are significant in light of concerns about the United States’ waning commitment to supporting Ukraine, with House Republicans blocking additional American assistance and fears that former President Trump’s return to the White House will result in a retreat from its commitments to allies and partners.
