Blinken To NATO Leaders: Ukraine Has 'Strong & Well-Lit Bridge To Membership'
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday addressed a meeting of NATO foreign and defense ministers in Prague. The meeting is being held in preparation for a bigger Washington summit set to take place in July. Blinken previewed that the later summit will bring Ukraine closer to NATO.
"At the summit we'll be taking concrete steps to bring Ukraine closer to NATO, and ensure that there's a bridge to membership - a bridge that's strong and well lit," he said in an address.
As the Alliance continues to grow in strength and numbers, we look forward to welcoming our NATO Allies to Washington, DC for the Summit in July. pic.twitter.com/Iuv6qkDD1P
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 31, 2024
Touting that the alliance is "stronger" than ever with the recent addition of two new members (Sweden and Finland), he said that the Western allies are also committed to rebuilding Ukraine after the war.
"NATO will help build Ukraine's future for us - one that effectively deter aggressive and defend against it as necessary," Blinken continued.
The US top diplomat said further:
We'll advance Ukraine's integration with NATO. 32 countries are also negotiating individual bilateral security agreements with Ukraine.
Thirteen have already been concluded. I expect many more will be concluded by the time of the summit.
"We'll bring them all together to show how powerful that commitment is," the continued to preview of the July summit.
From the start of the Feb. 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia's Putin and top Kremlin officials have consistently pointed to NATO expansion to Russia's borders as a prime cause of the conflict.
🇺🇦 ⚡️BREAKING: “Ukraine will become a member of NATO."
— Into the Realm (@dark_noon87803) May 31, 2024
"We will make sure that there is a bridge to membership. Strong and well-lit.” pic.twitter.com/8WXFoAhQom
And yet, Washington is more intent than ever on seeing Ukraine's eventual and full integration into the NATO alliance. This is of course a recipe for world war and nuclear-armed confrontation between Moscow and the West. Also, the US on Thursday approved for the first time the ability of Ukraine to hit Russian territory using American-supplied weapons systems.
Blinken's "well-lit" path of Ukraine to NATO may in the end be "lit" with the blinding flashes of nuclear bombs.