Ukraine to walk "own path" toward NATO membership - Pentagon

That’s according to Sabrina Singh, the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense, who spoke at a briefing in Washington on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“Every country has its own path when it comes to membership in NATO.  We are certainly encouraged by what we are seeing with Sweden, and when it comes to Ukraine, they will have their own path to NATO accession,” the spokeswoman noted.

She reiterated NATO’s “open-door policy” as regards nations willing to become part of the Alliance.

At the same time, Singh noted that the most urgent concern today is to make sure “Ukraine has what it needs on the battlefield.”

“Our efforts right now are focused on the security packages that we're providing, that you see us roll out every week or so, and what we can get to what we can get to them on the battlefield that they need right away,” the Pentagon official stressed, while avoiding a direct answer to a journalist’s question about the U.S. view on the new NATO-Ukraine Defense Council and possible efforts by the DoD to help shape this Council.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter following a meeting with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock that creating the NATO-Ukraine Council without taking a strong step toward membership “is like providing a tank without a gun.”

“NATO needs Ukraine as an Ally, not just a privileged partner,” Kuleba stressed.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking at a press conference on June 16 in Brussels, said the Alliance plans to invite Ukraine into a new NATO-Ukraine Defense Council as an equal member.

The Alliance is also focused on shaping a path to bring Ukraine closer to NATO membership, said Stoltenberg.