Pentagon chief: No third country eligible to veto Ukraine's accession to NATO

“No third country has the right to veto accession to NATO. Ukraine, as I have already mentioned, is free to determine its future foreign policy without external interference. I will say that our support for Ukrainian sovereignty is unwavering, and we will continue to work together to ensure that we are in the right place and that Ukraine can defend itself,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at a joint briefing with Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He assured that the United States remained steadfast in its support for Ukraine's defense reform, which will help meet the criteria for full-fledged NATO membership, in particular, greater Ukraine's defense capabilities, strengthened democratic civilian control over the Armed Forces, better personnel management, and more.

As reported, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president, said that Ukraine's accession to NATO was the worst-case scenario for Russia.

Commenting on the statement, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba stressed that the Russian Federation did not have a voice in the discussion on Ukraine's future NATO membership.

Photo credit: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

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