Biden says Ukraine not ‘ready’ for Nato membership ahead of key summit

President Joe Biden said on Sunday that Ukraine is not “ready” to be a part of the Nato alliance, a pronouncement that will likely chill some concerns raised by some members of the alliance ahead of a major summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The US president made the comments at the beginning of an interview with Fareed Zakaria of CNN, and is likely seeking to blunt the enthusiasm of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has insisted that his country should be admitted to the alliance as it passes the 500th day of a Russian assault into its heartland.

Mr Zelenskyy has been relentless throughout the course of the war in rallying western support for his cause, including his seeking increasingly powerful shipments of weapons and war vehicles to his country’s military as it battles and pushes back a larger but underperforming Russian force.

“I don’t think it’s ready for membership in Nato, but here’s the deal: I spent a great deal of time trying to hold Nato together,” said Mr Biden, adding that he believed Russia’s goal was to “break Nato” as an alliance.

More follows...