Pentagon on Kyiv's NATO Membership Application

The U.S. supports NATO's 'open door' policy but believes that decisions regarding its expansion must be made by all member countries, stated U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin while commenting on Kyiv's request for expedited NATO membership. This information was reported by the TASS news agency.

"We are committed to supporting NATO's 'open door' policy; however, how this happens is a question that is actually determined among the 30 states that vote on this issue. This work needs to be done soon," he said during a joint press conference with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles in Hawaii.

"But right now, we are focused on the issue of doing everything possible to ensure Ukraine's victory. And we see that the Ukrainian forces are indeed achieving good results," Austin added.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the country's application for expedited NATO membership. When asked about the discussion of this application, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg did not respond.

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev compared Kyiv's request to a plea for 'accelerating the start of World War III.'