'Middle of a war' not the right time for Ukraine to join Nato, Biden says
The President of the United States has said "the middle of a war" is not the time for Ukraine to join Nato.
In an interview with CNN, President Joe Biden said he doesn't think Ukraine "is ready for membership" in the alliance as members of the alliance get set to meet in Vilnius, Lithuania to discuss what steps are necessary for Kyiv to qualify for Nato membership.
"I don't think there is unanimity in Nato about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the Nato family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war," he said.
"But here's the deal, I've spent, as you know, a great deal of time, trying to hold Nato together," he told CNN.
"Because I believe Putin has had an overwhelming objective from the time he launched 185,000 troops into Ukraine… to break Nato.
"He was confident, in my view… he could break Nato. So holding Nato together is really critical.
President Biden said by bringing Ukraine into Nato now, during the country's war with Russia, then "we're all in a war".
"We're at war with Russia, if that were the case," he said.
He outlines there needs to be "rational path" for Ukraine to join Nato.
"The very first time I met with Putin two years ago in Geneva, and he said 'I want commitments, no Ukraine in Nato'," President Biden said.
"I said, 'We're not going to do that because it's an open door policy, we're not going to shut anybody out.'
"Nato is a process that takes some time to meet all the qualifications, from democratisation to a whole range of other issues."
President Biden did, however, say he had spoken to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky "at length" about joining the alliance.
He outlined that, while the process is going on, the US would provide security like they provide for Israel, "the capacity to defend themselves if there is an agreement, if there is a ceasefire, if there is a peace agreement".
"I think we can work it out, but I think it is premature to say, to call for a vote here and now."
It comes as Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ukraine deserves membership in Nato.
The Turkish President, who said Russia was closely watching, made the statement in a joint press conference with President Zelensky - who said he was "happy to hear" Turkey supported Ukraine's attempts to join the alliance.
President Erdogan also said Russian President Vladimir Putin was to visit Turkey next month.
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