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UK Foreign Secretary Says Ukraine's NATO Bid Not Among Current Priorities

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Wednesday that Ukraine's accession to NATO is not a priority at the moment, deferring the issue to a later date, amid repeated calls by Ukrainian officials for the rapprochement with the alliance.
Sputnik

"Obviously, there is long-standing commitments to providing Ukraine with a path to NATO membership," Cleverly told US newspaper, adding that "the priority of course, at the moment, is about their self-defense in the here and now."

The minister expressed belief that Ukraine's place in Europe's security architecture is an issue that must be addressed during the reconstruction phase.
"As part of that reconstruction, the Ukrainians and of course everybody else will want to see a credible way of ensuring that the brutality that they’re currently experiencing isn’t replicated in the future," Cleverly added.
Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the door for Ukraine to become a NATO member remains open but the country needs to be brought up to the alliance's standards and interoperability.
In late September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Kiev was applying for fast-track membership to NATO.
Analysis
Ukraine Will Never Become NATO Member, US Military Analyst Says
Moscow has always described NATO as an alliance aimed at confrontation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in early April that the alliance's further expansion toward Russian border is aggressive in nature and will not make Europe more secure.
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