U.S.: ‘Ukraine will become a member of NATO’

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Ukraine will become a full-fledged member of NATO — a move that could present even more direct confrontations with Russia which invaded its Eastern European neighbor in 2022.

“Ukraine will become a member of NATO,” Blinken said in remarks April 4 in Brussels with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dymtro Kuleba. “Our purpose of the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership and to create a clear pathway for Ukraine moving forward.”

NATO has 32 members and was formed by the U.S., United Kingdom and their Western allies after World War II to counter the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact acolytes.

The North Atlantic alliance — which also includes Spain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Turkey and Canada — has expanded into Eastern Europe, the Baltic states and Balkans after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

That includes Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Estonia. Previously neutral Finland and Sweden have joined the U.S.-led alliance since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Article 5 of NATO’s treaty considers an attack on one NATO member and attack and all and would be responded to militarily. That could potentially set up more direct U.S. and NATO confrontations with Russia if its aggression against Ukraine continues.

Ukraine has been pressing for membership into NATO as well as the European Union economic alliance.

Blinken said the recent meetings in Brussels aimed to reinforce U.S. and Western support for Ukraine in the war with Russia and move forward the process.

“We reaffirmed that Ukraine’s future is in NATO. Our goal now is to create a bridge to Ukraine’s full membership, offering additional support and greater cooperation, as Ukraine makes the reforms necessary to join the alliance,” Blinken said in separate remarks to the press April 4.

The pronouncement comes as House Republicans hinder more U.S. military aid to Ukraine. They want more money and stringent controls on the southern border to address migrant surges.

The U.S. has directed $75 billion to Ukraine during the war, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and Council on Foreign Relations. U.S. President Joe Biden wants $60.7 billion from Congress for the war efforts along with military funding for Israel.

That has backing from Democrats — including those representing the Delmarva Peninsula — as well as from neoconservative Republicans who favor more globalist U.S. foreign policies.

“If Ukraine falls, Putin will move on to NATO allies in Europe and further threaten our freedom and democracy. Defending Ukraine is defending America. We must prove to our allies and partners that we are still the ‘indispensable nation’ and remain the leaders of the free world, or we risk further emboldening our adversaries,” said U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, in a February statement.

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D- Maryland, agrees.

“The stakes could not be higher, which is why the United States must continue to stand with the people of Ukraine in their campaign to protect their democracy and the territorial integrity of their country. And Ukraine needs our help right now, as they are running dangerously low on ammunition and other vital supplies,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen said in a statement.

Former Maryland governor and 2024 U.S. Senate candidate Larry Hogan, a Republican, also backs U.S. support for Ukraine and promised to be an ardent NATO backer.

”Let me be clear — In the Senate, I will support our NATO allies because that is the best way to secure peace and American strength,” said Hogan responding to former President Donald Trump’s pronouncements on the alliance.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein worries about the Biden administration’s push for Ukraine membership in NATO and its Article 5 protections.

“Blinken just said Ukraine will join NATO, putting us directly on the path to war with Russia. Biden seems determined to start WWIII and get us all killed before we can vote him out,” Stein said in a statement.

Officials in Moscow — at the Kremlin and the Russian Foreign Ministry — reiterated their opposition to Ukraine entering and NATO arguing the U.S. alliance aims to isolate, confront and inflict a strategic defeat against Russia.

“Washington and its allies are waging a hybrid war against our country in Ukraine,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said April 2.

Blinken counters its Putin and Russia who are the aggressors.

”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 against Ukraine, an aggression that gets worse with every passing day. And we’ve seen that just in the month of March with thousands of missiles, rockets, projectiles launched at Ukrainians and Ukraine’s cities and towns, its electricity grid — and that continues,” Blinken said.