US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Ukraine ‘will become member of NATO’

During the press conference, Blinken also addressed the upcoming alliance's annual summit, which is set to be held in Washington in July

Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the United States' support for Ukraine on Thursday. During his meeting with foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba in Brussels, Blinken told reporters that “Ukraine will become a member of NATO.” The 61-year-old diplomat also expressed his confidence in US-Ukraine ties and the support for the embattled country and its President Volodymyr Zelensky as “rock solid.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gives a press conference on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on April 4, 2024. (Photo by Johanna Geron / POOL / AFP)(AFP)

Antony Blinken says Ukraine will become a member of NATO

During the press conference, Blinken also addressed the upcoming alliance's annual summit, which is set to be held in Washington in July. “Our purpose of the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership and to create a clear pathway for Ukraine moving forward,” he said.

Blinken continued, “We have done a lot of work on that over the last couple of days here in Brussels, a lot more work to be done between now and the summit.” “But we will see, I think, in the summit, very strong support for Ukraine going forward in this relationship with NATO,” he added.

The US diplomat further said, “But we're equally focused, as I said, on the immediate and on Ukraine's needs today, tomorrow, and the day after, to help it withstand this ongoing aggression from Russia.”

Blinken's statement comes as the NATO alliance is marking its 75th anniversary. Meanwhile, Kremlin recently declared that Russia is now in “direct confrontation” with NATO. Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Kremlin told reporters in Moscow, “Relations have now slipped to the level of direct confrontation,” per the Daily Mail.

Peskov added that NATO was “already involved in the conflict surrounding Ukraine (and) continues to move towards our borders and expand its military infrastructure towards our borders,” per the outlet.

Blinken held back on exactly what commitments the US would declare as part of its support for Ukraine at the summit. During the 2023 summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, NATO allies agreed that Ukraine could join NATO when certain conditions are met, per The Hill.