Erdogan says the US doesn't support Ukraine joining NATO
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that the United States is the primary obstacle to Ukraine's NATO membership. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, any decision regarding Ukraine's potential NATO membership should be made cautiously. Erdogan indicated that the United States is the primary opponent of Ukraine joining NATO, with several other countries in the alliance sharing similar reservations.
While Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's 'victory plan' emphasizes NATO membership, Erdogan stated in an interview with NBC News that “the US, first and foremost, does not want to see Ukraine as a NATO member. And many NATO countries do not want Ukraine to be a member-state.”
Zelensky is currently in the United States working to promote this plan, with meetings scheduled with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington on Thursday.
Erdogan added, “These are not questions to be rushed.” He emphasized the importance of considering the viewpoints of other NATO members in the decision-making process, saying, “And when making our minds, when we are taking our decisions, we always take into consideration the stance of other NATO member states, we discuss those possible questions around the table and make the final decision accordingly.”
When asked if Turkey would accept Ukraine into NATO, Erdogan noted, “we are going to follow the developments, the deliberations, and reach a final decision accordingly. These are not decisions to be rushed in an excited way.” He also discussed Turkey's complex relationship with Russia, describing it as “multidimensional, political, economic, cultural, defense industry related. There are many dimensions, dimensions there and our solidarity, our interaction, has been going on and economically every day, these relations are expanding.”
For NATO expansion, a unanimous agreement from all member states is necessary. Finland and Sweden, the latest countries to join the alliance in 2023 and 2024, respectively, had to navigate significant initial resistance from Turkey, which accused these nations of harboring members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, regarded as a terrorist organization by Ankara.
A senior official from the U.S. State Department mentioned that the political aspect of Zelensky's 'victory plan' is aimed at assuring the Ukrainian populace that they would be welcomed into Western institutions such as the EU and NATO, whether through ongoing resistance against Russia or a possible negotiated settlement with Moscow.
At a 2008 summit in Bucharest, NATO declared that Ukraine and Georgia, another former Soviet Republic, would eventually join the alliance. Following the onset of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and other officials consistently claimed that Ukraine was on the path to membership, though they did not provide a specific timeline for accession.
Moscow, which perceives NATO as a threat and strongly opposes its eastward expansion, cited Ukraine's aspirations to join the alliance as a primary justification for initiating its military operation against Ukraine in February 2022.
Ramin Sohrabi for TROIB News
While Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's 'victory plan' emphasizes NATO membership, Erdogan stated in an interview with NBC News that “the US, first and foremost, does not want to see Ukraine as a NATO member. And many NATO countries do not want Ukraine to be a member-state.”
Zelensky is currently in the United States working to promote this plan, with meetings scheduled with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington on Thursday.
Erdogan added, “These are not questions to be rushed.” He emphasized the importance of considering the viewpoints of other NATO members in the decision-making process, saying, “And when making our minds, when we are taking our decisions, we always take into consideration the stance of other NATO member states, we discuss those possible questions around the table and make the final decision accordingly.”
When asked if Turkey would accept Ukraine into NATO, Erdogan noted, “we are going to follow the developments, the deliberations, and reach a final decision accordingly. These are not decisions to be rushed in an excited way.” He also discussed Turkey's complex relationship with Russia, describing it as “multidimensional, political, economic, cultural, defense industry related. There are many dimensions, dimensions there and our solidarity, our interaction, has been going on and economically every day, these relations are expanding.”
For NATO expansion, a unanimous agreement from all member states is necessary. Finland and Sweden, the latest countries to join the alliance in 2023 and 2024, respectively, had to navigate significant initial resistance from Turkey, which accused these nations of harboring members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, regarded as a terrorist organization by Ankara.
A senior official from the U.S. State Department mentioned that the political aspect of Zelensky's 'victory plan' is aimed at assuring the Ukrainian populace that they would be welcomed into Western institutions such as the EU and NATO, whether through ongoing resistance against Russia or a possible negotiated settlement with Moscow.
At a 2008 summit in Bucharest, NATO declared that Ukraine and Georgia, another former Soviet Republic, would eventually join the alliance. Following the onset of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and other officials consistently claimed that Ukraine was on the path to membership, though they did not provide a specific timeline for accession.
Moscow, which perceives NATO as a threat and strongly opposes its eastward expansion, cited Ukraine's aspirations to join the alliance as a primary justification for initiating its military operation against Ukraine in February 2022.
Ramin Sohrabi for TROIB News
