By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BRUSSELS/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The United States pledged Thursday that Ukraine will eventually join the U.S.-led NATO military alliance despite Moscow’s opposition and massive overnight Russian attacks.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that NATO’s support for Ukraine remains “rock solid” among member states.
He said the wartorn nation “will become a member of NATO. Our purpose at the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership.”
Blinken spoke after meeting Ukraine’s foreign minister in Brussels, Belgium, where the NATO alliance is marking its 75th anniversary.
Yet a ceremony with birthday cake and marching bands couldn’t mask the sadness expressed by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. “I didn’t want to spoil the birthday party for NATO, but I felt compelled to deliver a very sobering message on behalf of Ukrainians about the state of Russian air attacks on my country,” he said.
The minister referred to a Russian drone attack that struck residential buildings in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and an energy facility in the region. Several people were killed early Thursday in the attack, which also cut power for 350,000 residents, according to Ukrainian officials.
Kuleba urged Ukraine’s allies and partners to look into ways to provide additional Patriot air defense systems as soon as possible.
‘ROCK SOLID’
With clashes ongoing, “the support for Ukraine, the determination of every country represented here at NATO remains rock solid. We will do everything we can,” Blinken stressed. The allies discussed a 100 billion euro ($108 billion) fund for Ukraine proposed by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
“Allies will do everything that they can to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to continue to deal with Russia’s ongoing aggression,” Blinked added.
However, his words did not reflect those of all NATO member states, including Hungary, which has one of Europe’s most pro-Russia governments.
Hungary has made clear it won’t support more weapons for Ukraine and says it wants to back peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow.
“NATO is a defense alliance,” explained Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijarto .“Hungary will reject any proposal that would transform it into an offensive alliance as this would lead to the serious danger of escalation.”
Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and injured since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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