Time magazine publishes the transcript of an interview with US President Joe Biden held on May 28. Among the topics discussed was the question of the end of the conflict in Ukraine and what peace will look like there, as quoted by News.bg.
"Peace will seem like a guarantee that Russia will never, never, never, never (repeat four times) occupy Ukraine. This is what peace looks like," Biden replied. "And that doesn't mean NATO, that they will be part of NATO. This means that we have a relationship with them as we do with other countries, so that we supply weapons so that they can defend themselves in the future." "I was the one who said that I was not ready to necessarily support Ukraine's entry into NATO," added the American president.
Elsewhere in the interview, he reflected on Finland's membership in NATO, which became a fact after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine has long sought NATO membership, but this has met with resistance from some other members of the alliance.
At the NATO summit in Vilnius last summer, a communique was adopted that largely disappointed the Ukrainian leadership. It said: "Ukraine's future is in NATO [...] We will be able to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join NATO when NATO member states reach an agreement and when the conditions are met."
In December 2021, in the midst of preparations for war, Russia issued an ultimatum to the US and NATO, demanding guarantees that Ukraine, as well as Georgia, would never become NATO members. Russian officials sometimes say they are not waiving that requirement.