US permanent rep: NATO still not ready to invite Ukraine to alliance

For now, the US is not ready to extend an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, a key point in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's victory plan reported from Politico.

"The alliance has not, to date, reached the point where it is prepared to offer membership or an invitation to Ukraine," the outgoing US ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said, adding that "our intent is to keep moving them closer to NATO."

Despite the widespread concern that Trump could pull away NATO's security umbrella, Smith — an appointee of President Joe Biden who has nominated her to be an under-secretary of state, pending congressional approval — is unfazed.

"For 75 years, US presidents of all political stripes have supported this alliance and committed themselves to providing leadership across the alliance," Smith said. "I have full faith that the US will continue to play that role going forward, irrespective of what happens on November 5."

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