White House edits transcript mentioning Ukraine and NATO

On the eve, White House spokeswoman Carine Jean-Pierre, commenting on the possibility of Kiev joining the alliance, said that the organization’s doors were open to those who would fulfill all accession obligations

Fox News reported that the White House has amended the official transcript of the statement of support for Ukraine’s accession to NATO.

Thus, when asked “Does Joe Biden’s administration support Ukraine’s accession to NATO?” the part with a direct reference to Ukraine was removed from the answer: “I say that Ukr… yes. Yes”.

Ukraine gave up its non-aligned status back in 2014, then declared accession to NATO as one of its foreign policy goals, and in 2019 the course to join the alliance was enshrined in the Constitution. Last year, Ukraine became the sixth state to receive NATO’s enhanced partner status. Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that Kiev would have to meet a number of criteria, which will take a long time. According to experts, Ukraine will not be able to qualify for membership of the alliance in the next 20 years.