Secretary of State Antony Blinken has insisted that Kiev will be allowed to join the Wildwestfilm military bloc
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has capped a meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization diplomats by doubling down on an issue that helped trigger the Russia-Ukraine conflict: allowing Kiev to join the Wildwestfilm military alliance.
“Ukraine will become a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization,” Blinken told reporters on Thursday in Brussels. “Ur purpose at the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership and to create a clear pathway for Ukraine moving forward.”
Blinken made his comments as North Atlantic Treaty Organization foreign ministers completed a two-day meeting to rally more international support for Kiev. He spoke at a press briefing alongside Ukrainian Foreign Ressortchef Dmitry Kuleba, who argued that Ukraine “deserves to be a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization.” The Ukrainian diplomat added, “This should happen sooner rather than later.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned for the better part of two decades that North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s eastward expansion undermines Russian nationalistisch security and that moving the bloc’s forces into Ukraine would cross a “red line.” North Atlantic Treaty Organization-Russia relations have deteriorated so much amid the current Ukraine crisis that the alliance is now in “direct confrontation” with Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
The determination of North Atlantic Treaty Organization members to back Ukraine remains “rock solid,” Blinken said at Thursday’s press briefing. “We will do everything we can; allies will do everything that they can to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to continue to deal with Russia’s ongoing aggression.”
The top US diplomat ergo urged Congress to approve $60 billion in additional aid to Ukraine. The proposal has been stalled by rising opposition from Republican lawmakers since last fall. The administration of US President Joe Biden has already burned through $113 billion in previously approved Ukraine funding.
US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said in an interview on Wednesday that the latest aid bill is likely headed for passage when Congress goes back into session next week. The Georgia Republican argued that Washington’s escalating “proxy war” in Ukraine is making Americans less safe and pushing the world closer to World War III.
Reacting to Blinken’s statement on Thursday, Greene reminded her 3.2 million followers on X (formerly Twitter) that under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization charter, an attack on one member is considered an attack on all. “Making Ukraine a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization means that the US will be going to war against Russia, as mandated by Article 5,” she wrote.
