Biden: Ukraine Has to Clean Up Corruption to Join NATO

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke about Ukraine’s accession to the North Atlantic Alliance at the NATO summit in Brussels on 14 June. Biden did not rule out Ukraine’s accession to NATO in the distant future despite its territorial conflict with Russia. There is a chance, as it was previously officially believed that countries with unfrozen territorial claims to other countries or to themselves could not join the Alliance.

“Ukraine wants a clear yes or no on getting into the NATO Membership Action Plan, so what’s your answer? And now that Russia has invaded parts of Ukraine, does that effectively rule out Ukraine ever entering NATO given that being in NATO would mean the US and NATO having to defend Ukrainians against Russia?” journalists asked the U.S. leader.

However, Biden stressed that the path to NATO was currently closed for Ukraine because it did not meet the membership criteria.

“The second question is, the answer is no. The first question, it depends on whether they meet the criteria. The fact is they still have to clean up corruption. The fact is they have to meet other criteria to get into the action plan. And so school’s out on that question, it remains to be seen. In the meantime, we will do all that we can to put Ukraine in the position to be able to continue to resist Russian physical aggression,” Biden answered.

Natalia Tolub