President Joe Biden on Sunday urged a "rational path" for Ukraine's ascension into The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), explaining why he believes the Eastern European country is not yet ready to join the military alliance during an interview with CNN.
After Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine last February, Kyiv has pushed for expedited membership into NATO, a military alliance between the United States, Canada and 29 European countries. Ukraine's potential NATO membership was a major point of contention with Moscow prior to the invasion and is expected to loom over an upcoming NATO summit. While the alliance has pledged that Ukraine would eventually be allowed to join, leaders have suggested that membership may still be years away.
Biden on Sunday told CNN he does not "think [Ukraine is] ready for membership in NATO," explaining that there is not unanimity among current member states "at this moment." He dismissed calls to hold a vote on NATO membership at the summit on July 11 and 12 in Vilnius, Lithuania, as "premature."
He suggested Ukraine may not be able to join until the war with Russia concludes, as Article 5 of the founding NATO treaty would require a military response from all member states should one be attacked. Many experts warn this could require NATO to escalate its involvement in the Ukraine war should Kyiv join the alliance.
"We're determined to commit every inch of territory that is NATO territory. That's a commitment that we've all made no matter what," Biden said. "If the war is going on, then we're all in the war. We're at war with Russia, if that were the case."
Instead, he said NATO should focus on outlining a path for Ukraine to eventually join the alliance once the war concludes and it has met other requirements. He said the U.S. would be willing to provide Ukraine security packages similar to ones that it provides to Israel throughout the membership process.
"I think we have to lay out a rational path for Ukraine to be able to qualify to get into NATO," Biden said, adding that the process to join NATO "takes some time to meet all the qualifications from democratization to a whole range of other issues."
Doug Klain, a fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Newsweek on Sunday that Biden's remarks indicate he is a "roadblock" to Ukraine joining NATO, adding that Ukrainian and NATO leadership are not considering membership to be granted at the upcoming summit.
Klain added that Biden's assessment of Article 5 is a "fair argument for not admitting Ukraine while it's still at war." He said that interpretations of the statute vary, and some believe that providing weaponry, rather than going to war, would satisfy the requirement. However, he warned that this could potentially "water down" the deterrent element of Article 5.
Providing Ukraine Path to NATO Membership Could Prevent 'Democratic Backsliding,' Klain Says
Klain said NATO providing Ukraine with concrete steps that would help guarantee its NATO membership would be beneficial, warning that not setting it down the path leaves a greater possibility of "democratic backsliding."
"The real benefit to the Vilnius summit saying these are the reforms that Ukraine needs to make is Ukraine has shown that it has the will to make these reforms to integrate," he said. "By saying this is the path you need to take, that's going to in the long term, help Ukraine too motivate itself to continue these reforms to integrate and to really stay a democratic country."
Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment via email.
Ahead of the upcoming NATO summit, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance will approve a multi-year support package for Ukraine that will help it "come even closer to NATO and NATO membership."
"I expect all leaders will reaffirm that Ukraine will become a member of NATO and unite on how to bring Ukraine closer to its goal," NATO's chief said.
Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and chair of the body's foreign affairs committee, previously told Newsweek that Ukraine would "ideally" receive an invitation to join NATO at the summit while acknowledging that the timeline and modality of accession must be subject to discussion.
"Maybe there will be the following model: the Vilnius summit produces the decision that Ukraine will join NATO, and the 2024 Washington summit produces the invitation to join NATO," Merezhko said.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more
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