Ukraine won’t get a fast-tracked path to NATO membership, even as the alliance’s member nations have provided the country with significant resources since the conflict with Russia erupted, U.S. President Joe Biden said on June 17.
At a campaign rally with union officials, Biden was asked by reporters if he would make it easier for Ukraine to join the military alliance.
“No,” he said. “Because they’ve got to meet the same standards. So we’re not going to make it easy.”
Ukraine, a former Soviet territory that also isn’t a member of the European Union, has the “ability to coordinate military” affairs in the midst of the year-long conflict, he said. But the Eastern European country has to “meet all the standards” to fully join NATO.
Biden raised issues of government corruption within Ukraine’s military and government, which has been flagged by NATO officials in the past.
“I think they’ve done everything relating to demonstrating the ability to coordinate militarily, but there’s a whole issue of: Is their system secure? Is it noncorrupt? Does it meet all the standards every other nation in NATO does?” he said. “I think they will. I think they can. But it’s not automatic.”
Read more: Biden Says Ukraine Can’t Join NATO Unless It Meets ‘Same Standards’
