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US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that Ukraine’s future is in NATO and that this is not a “negotiable” issue.
The remarks come after questions on the July 11-12 NATO summit and Ukraine’s membership during a television program “This Week” on ABC News where Sullivan appeared as a guest.
‘Ukraine’s future in NATO’
“We said in the communique that Ukraine’s future is in NATO, period, full stop. No qualifications. No negotiations with anyone. It is going to happen,” said the national security advisor.
He stressed that the US support for Ukraine against Russia will continue, and he believed that the American people would continue to support this stance.
While acknowledging that membership is currently not possible, Sullivan explained: “First and foremost, Ukraine joining NATO while the war is ongoing would mean NATO engaging in a war with Russia. This would also imply the US engaging in a war with Russia. Neither NATO nor the US is ready for that.”
Erdoğan on Ukraine’s NATO bid
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said previously that Ukraine deserved NATO membership during his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s official visit to Istanbul in early July.
“We are pleased that Mr. Erdoğan said that Ukraine deserves NATO membership,” Zelenskiy said in response to Erdoğan’s supportive statement.
Sullivan said that every candidate country for NATO membership needs to undertake certain democratic reforms, acknowledging that Ukraine has made significant progress but emphasizing that further reforms are necessary.
At the latest NATO summit, allies reaffirmed that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” agreeing on a multiyear program to help transition Ukraine from Soviet-era to NATO standards and make its forces fully interoperable with the military bloc.
The assistance includes supporting Kyiv’s armed forces, upgrading the alliance’s political ties with a new NATO-Ukraine Council, and bringing Ukraine closer to NATO membership.