Biden: open to the plan for easier accession of Ukraine to NATO
US President Joe Biden is open to a plan that would make it easier for Ukraine to join NATO after the war, though the plan doesn’t say when Kiev might join NATO. The American news site Politico reported it on Thursday on the basis of two sources.
According to two US officials, Biden would welcome scrapping Ukraine’s action plan for NATO membership. This roadmap tests and helps a country meet NATO requirements, such as democratic and military reforms. It is then determined whether a country can become a member.
This is the state of things
Russia has once again urged the United Nations Security Council for an international investigation into the explosions that occurred last September at the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Russia claims the West is responsible for the explosion. Western governments have denied involvement, as has Ukraine.
Netherlands, United States, United Kingdom and Denmark supply Ukraine with hundreds more missiles for its air defense in a matter of weeks. The Netherlands accounts for 40 million of the 300 million euros in anti-aircraft missiles, Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said earlier.
Ukraine says it intercepted a cruise missile and 20 drones last night. But also that three other missiles hit “industrial installations” in the Dnipropetrovsk region, in the Middle East of Ukraine, reports AFP.
Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is “reckless and dangerous,” the NATO secretary general said. Jens Stoltenberg spoke in Brussels at a meeting of NATO defense ministers, saying Russia’s behavior is “part of a pattern” to which NATO has responded.
Norway and Denmark they agreed to donate 9,000 additional artillery cartridges to Ukraine. Norway will send grenades and Denmark will send fuses and propulsive charges, the Norwegian government has announced.
Japan is considering supplying artillery ammunition to the United States so that the United States can provide more support to Ukraine. It would be an exceptional and politically delicate move for the country, writes the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Japan supports Ukraine, among other things, with bulletproof vests, but not yet with weapons or ammunition.
Australia blocked the construction of a new Russian embassy near the parliament. The government had presented a bill to this effect, which was adopted by a large majority. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cited “threats to national security” as the reason for the move.
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