Washington and Ottawa reiterated their support for Ukraine’s potential membership in NATO

On Friday, the United States and Canada announced their support for Ukraine’s possible entry into NATO, without endorsing an accelerated procedure.

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“We strongly support the entry of countries that wish to join and can contribute their capabilities to NATO,” said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, adding that the US remained committed to NATO’s “open door” policy.

But he added that “there is a process for that and countries will continue to follow this process.”

The head of US diplomacy was questioned during a press conference about the statements of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calling for accelerating his country’s accession to NATO after the announcement of Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian lands.

For his part, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie was more explicit, noting that her country “has always supported Ukraine’s accession to NATO.”

In Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg remained evasive when asked about Ukraine’s candidacy for “accelerated membership” in NATO.

He said: “Every democracy in Europe has the right to apply for NATO membership and we have said over and over again that the door is still open.” But he said the membership decision must be approved “unanimously” by the 30 member states.