According to a report in the Financial Times, outgoing US President Joe Biden may expedite Ukraine’s NATO membership bid before he leaves office in January.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden could speed up the process of Ukraine joining NATO before his term ends in January. Russia has insisted that Ukraine must abandon its plans to join the US-led military alliance before any peace negotiations can begin.
The FT, citing a Western official briefed on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s discussions in Washington last week, stated that there are “tentative signs” that Biden “might agree to advance the status of Ukraine’s NATO membership bid” before leaving office.
Zelensky traveled to the United States to present his so-called “victory plan” for the conflict with Russia, which reportedly includes requests for advanced weapons and financial aid. According to the FT, American officials were not impressed with the plan.
NATO-like Western security guarantees for Ukraine are said to have been another key part of the plan that was left unanswered, along with the issue of US permission to use Western-supplied weapons for long-range strikes on Russia.
Ukraine has long sought to join NATO, and reiterated its request for membership in September 2022, after four former Ukrainian regions voted to join Russia. Since the escalation of the conflict with Moscow two years ago, NATO leaders have repeatedly stated that Ukraine is on track to become a member, but have not announced a specific timeline for accession.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated NATO’s position last month, stating that Ukraine’s path to membership is “irreversible.”
Some members of the alliance, such as Hungary and Slovakia, have insisted that they would not agree to bringing Ukraine into NATO under any circumstances, as it would mean war with Russia.
Earlier this year, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said that promising membership to Ukraine was a “mistake” and “really why this war started.”
The Russian leadership has stated that Ukraine must abandon its aspirations of joining NATO before any peace talks can begin. Moscow has long argued that the bloc’s eastward expansion threatens Russia’s security. When announcing the start of the military operation in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin said Russia considers the expansion of NATO into Ukraine as “unacceptable.”